Ulster release statement on worrying Marcell Coetzee development

Ulster Rugby have a released a statement on Marcell Coetzee's condition after the Springbok backrow pulled up in training this week.

Coetzee - a marqee signing at the club - missed the vast bulk of his debut season last year due to injury.

The statement reads: "Marcell Coetzee suffered a recurrence of left knee pain and swelling in training.

"Due to the ongoing problems with this knee, he is travelling back to South Africa to seek the opinion of the surgeon who performed his original ACL repair. Ulster Rugby will provide a further update following this consultation."

He has played just four times for Ulster, with his single appearance this season coming in Ulster's first game against the Cheetahs.

Coetzee had been billed as the man that would fill the void in physicality left when Stephen Ferris was forced to retire. Ironically it appears that Coetzee has been cursed with a similar injury profile as the former British and Irish Lions blindside, who struggled to remain fit throughout his career.