British & Irish Lion Rory Best could well return to action this weekend for club side Ulster, handing Ireland a huge boost ahead of the upcoming Six Nations.
The hooker has made a much quicker than expected recovery from a broken arm, sustained in the men in green’s heartbreaking loss to the All Blacks in the autumn.
In that clash Best actually played on for five first-half minutes after he had sustaiend the break, throwing himself into rucks with his right arm hanging limply at his side.
But the damage has healed quickly meaning the Irishman, who toured with the British & Irish Lions this summer, should be back in action for Ireland when the Six Nations gets underway.
“Rory has been given the all-clear by the specialist so it's a matter of the workload that we can do during the week and assessing it after those couple of sessions," said Ulster coach Mark Anscombe on Tuesday.
“We'll do the best thing for Rory because there is a lot of big rugby ahead for him and us.
“It we are going to get full value out of him, we have got to look after him now. We'll make sure we do the right thing.”
