Injury concerns for McFarland ahead of Ulster's South Africa tour

Dan McFarland was left counting the cost of Ulster's seven-try victory over the Ospreys after a number of key players were forced off with injuries.

Marty Moore did not return after going off for a HIA on 12 minutes while Ian Madigan was withdrawn at half-time following a collision with team-mate Sam Carter.

Stuart McCloskey went off after scoring Ulster’s fifth try shortly after the restart while Madigan’s replacement Billy Burns lasted just 11 minutes before he was forced from the pitch.

Ulster head coach McFarland was pleased with how his side coped those disruptions but was left sweating on the players’ fitness ahead of Tuesday’s flight to South Africa ahead of games against the Emirates Lions and Cell C Sharks.

"We managed that second half pretty well, given the amount of disruption we had in pivotal positions," said McFarland.

"Ian going after playing so well in the first half, Billy coming on and then going off, Stu McCloskey having to go off. We ended up with Mikey at 13, Mikey at 10, Coons [John Cooney] on the wing – although he loves playing wing.

"There was a lot of disruption around that but I felt until the final minute, we managed that second half really well.

"How serious are the injuries? Ian’s didn’t look great to be honest, he’s in a brace downstairs. I’d be pretty hopeful the other guys will be okay but we won’t know until Monday or Tuesday when they can be assessed."

McFarland was pleased with his side's spirit after they bounced back from last weekend’s loss to Leinster and sensed a reaction was coming after witnessing the players in training.

"We didn’t really need to talk about [the Leinster game] that much," he said. "My gut told me we would see that and we did."

McFarland made nine changes to his starting