Ulster star set for extended period on sidelines after undergoing ACL surgery
The rampaging number eight, who broke through last season with some barnstorming performances in Ulster's back row, looks likely to miss the majority of the 2025/26 season after suffering the problem.
It is cruel timing for McNabney, who had just been called up to the Ireland squad for their summer Tests against Georgia and Portugal as a training member and was expected to kick on in his sophomore season at Ravenhill.
Now it is all but certain that the exciting young talent will not be seen on the pitch again until at least the new year, with ACL injuries generally keeping players sidelined for around nine months.
Fortunately for Ulster, replacing the impressive McNabney shouldn't be too difficult as they are preparing for the impending arrival of South African number eight Juarno Augustus, although he himself has had a recent injury setback as a back problem led to his release from the Springboks' wider training squad ahead of their Test schedule.
Twenty-two-year-old McNabney made his Ulster debut under Dan McFarland when he started against the Glasgow Warriors in November 2023 and would proceed to hold onto the number eight jersey for the next two games, making his European debut in a defeat away to Bath the following month.
However, it was under Richie Murphy this season that the Ballymena man thrived, starting the opening game of the season against the Warriors and going on to make 17 appearances in all competitions, including starting in three of their four European pool games and their last-16 clash with eventual champions Bordeaux.
That led to a first call-up to the Ireland squad, albeit as a training panellist, for this summer's tour, however that has now been cruelly taken away from the Academy graduate.
In his absence, uncapped Munster back row Brian Gleeson has been called up – also as a training panellist rather than a full squad member – while an injury to winger Calvin Nash has led to Munster team-mate Diarmuid Kilgallen being drafted in, as has Munster's Evan O'Connell.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
24 minutes ago
- The National
Middlesbrough allocation for Rangers pre-season friendly revealed
The English Championship club will travel to Glasgow on Saturday, July 26. Rangers will first face Club Brugge. Middlesbrough's visit to Ibrox will come in between the two-legged Champions League second qualifying round tie against Panathinaikos. Now, it has been confirmed that Middlesbrough will receive 8,023 tickets for the friendly contest. A club update read: "Ticket information for Boro's trip to Rangers in pre-season. "Tickets are on general sale from 10am, Wednesday 18 June. "All tickets for this fixture will be print at home, and no physical tickets will be issued. "Full Allocation: 8,023 tickets". Read more: Rangers return for pre-season on Monday. Manager Russell Martin said: "[The aim is] to work them physically, tactically, to get them to understand what we are demanding very early on and what the team will look like, and hopefully over the next couple of weeks to add a few players to the group, and I think we're all expecting that. "I don't know [exact numbers], but I think we will have a few before the European game, that is for sure. Everyone is working extremely hard, that's what the bulk of the work has been the last week or so, identifying character and talent we want in this building that can add to this group and add to us culturally and performance-wise. I am excited about the people we are starting to look at and will hopefully add." Rangers pre-season 2025 fixtures Rangers vs Club Brugge - 2pm, Sunday, July 6 Rangers vs Middlebrough - 2pm, Saturday, July 26
Evening Standard
44 minutes ago
- Evening Standard
Mohammed Kudus transfer talk set to rumble on as West Ham stance offers encouragement to rivals
Much could be decided at the beginning of next month. He has a 10-day release clause which comes into effect on July 1 and runs until July 10. During that time, he can be bought out of his West Ham contract by European clubs for £80million, Premier League rivals for £85m or Saudi sides for £120m. That could be when interest in the forward intensifies even more.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Fermanagh make two changes for Tailteann Cup semi-final
Fermanagh boss Kieran Donnelly has made two alterations for their Tailteann Cup semi-final against Kildare on Ernesiders have reached the last four for the first time after beating Sligo in the Flanagan and Jonathan Cassidy come in for Che Cullen and Conor are unchanged from the side that beat Meath in the last eight and are boosted by the return of Callum Bolton to the bench although Ben McCormack is Sean McNally; Luke Flanagan, Lee Cullen, Oisin Smyth; Shane McGullion, Declan McCusker, Jonathan Cassidy; Joe McDade, Darragh McGurn; Fionan O'Brien, Ryan Lyons, Ronan McCaffrey; Josh Largo Ellis, Garvan Jones, Conor Ross Bogue, Che Cullen, Sean Cassidy, Diarmuid Owens, Glenn Treacy, Aogan Kelm, Jack Largo Ellis, Oisin Murphy, Conor McKee, Brandon Horan, Paul Cian Burke; Harry O'Neill, Mark Dempsey, Ryan Burke; Brian Byrne, David Hyland; James McGrath Kevin Feely, Brendan Gibbons; Tommy Gill, Alex Beirne Colm Dalton; Ryan Sinkey, Darragh Kirwin, Daniel Didier Cordonnier, Jack McKevitt, Mick O'Grady, Kevin Flynn, Callum Bolton, Aaron Masterson, Paddy McDermott, Darragh Swords, Brian McLoughlin, Niall Kelly, Eoin Cully.
