Surgery rules Ireland lock Iain Henderson out of Springboks series

Ireland lock Iain Henderson has been ruled out of the upcoming series against world champions South Africa after undergoing an operation on his toe.

The Ulster captain, 32, has been out of action in recent weeks with the injury, but Ulster have now provided more clarity on the prognosis. He will now be sidelined for three months after having surgery on Monday.

Ireland are set to face the Springboks in a two-match series in July, but Andy Farrell will now have to make do without the British & Irish Lion.

A positive for Farrell is that fellow Ireland second-row James Ryan has returned to training this week for Leinster, and is poised to take part in the denouement of their campaign.

Henderson, meanwhile, will obviously have no further part to play in Ulster's season with fixtures against Leinster and Munster still remaining, as well as potential play-off fixtures.

Elsewhere in the squad, Ulster also confirmed in an injury update that Ireland centre James Hume also underwent surgery on Monday for a knee injury and will be unavailable for the "coming months" too.

Luke Marshall and Rob Baloucoune will also be absent this weekend against Leinster at the Kingspan Stadium after they picked up injuries in training.