Ulster pay dear price

Ulster paid a dear price for their emphatic five-try demolition of second-placed Scarlets in a Pro12 encounter at the weekend.

The Pro 12 leaders, Ulster, produced a late flourish of three tries to secure a 47-17 bonus-point win over the Scarlets at Ravenhill and put more space between themselves and the chasing pack.

Robbie Diack, Nick Williams, Andrew Trimble and Neil McComb got their names on the scoresheet, supplementing a penalty try and some pinpoint kicking from Ruan Pienaar, to give Ulster the perfect preamble to their crucial European Cup ties against in-form Glasgow and Castres over the next fortnight.

However, the win came at a price, with some serious injury concerns.

Dan Tuohy, who tore a calf muscle against the Northampton Saints in the province's last European outing in December, appeared to suffer a recurrence in his comeback game.

The Irish second row forward limped out of the game.

Centre Luke Marshall suffered damage to a finger and he was replaced by Paddy Wallace.

Fullback Adam D'Arcy also retired injured and this compounds an issue for Ulster coach Mark Anscombe, who must now await a medical prognosis on first choice Jared Payne, who missed the Scarlets' game.

"It's not looking good," the Ulster coach admitted, in speaking about Tuohy.

"It's the same leg/calf injury so that's got to be a concern.

"Luke Marshall is also a real concern as is Jared [Payne]."