Rob Baloucoune will undergo surgery on an elbow injury sustained while trying to make a tackle in Ireland’s Triple Crown-winning victory over Scotland in the Aviva Stadium last weekend.
Ulster confirmed the 28-year-old right wing will be sidelined for 12 weeks and is, therefore, likely to miss the remainder of the province’s season. The URC Grand Final takes place on June 20th, so he’d have an outside chance of making that should Richie Murphy’s charges qualify.
A more realistic target for the Enniskillen man would be to make Ireland’s three matches in the Nations Championship during the summer, when they take on Australia, Japan and New Zealand. The first of those matches is against the Wallabies in Sydney on July 4th.
The Ulster statement read: “Ulster Rugby can confirm that Rob Baloucoune sustained an elbow injury in Ireland’s win over Scotland last weekend. He will undergo surgery and is expected to be sidelined for approximately three months. Wishing you a speedy recovery, Rob.”
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The player won an award as Rising Player of the Six Nations after excelling in the tournament. Baloucoune missed out on Ireland’s defeat to France in Paris before being chosen by Andy Farrell to start all four tournament victories on the right wing. He scored tries against Italy, England and Scotland. Across all matches this season he has a strike rate of 11 tries in 12 games.
His career has been pockmarked by injuries including hamstring issues that have stalled his progress despite his undoubted talent. Baloucoune scored a try on his Ireland debut against the USA in 2021 but had amassed just three more caps before making his first Six Nations start in the tournament that’s just finished.
The former Ireland Sevens international, who has also played for Emerging Ireland and the Ireland XV, has crossed for five tries in his eight senior caps.
