Ulster's Bowe confident of return in the new year

The 31-year-old winger was stretchered off in Ireland's World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina, and required surgery after damaging his cruciate ligament.

But Bowe - who scored six tries in 12 GUINNESS PRO12 appearances last season - now believes that the injury was not as bad as originally feared.

And he is adamant there is a chance of him returning for Neil Doak's side early in the New Year.

"I'm on the road to recovery at the minute," he told RTÉ. "The operation was done over four weeks ago.

"I just have to rest and recuperate for a couple of months and I'll hopefully get myself back onto the pitch some time soon in the new year.

"At the time I thought it was quite serious. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as it could have been - it could have been a lot worse. I'm very positive, it's feeling good and strong.

"I'll have a brace on it until January. It's a pain in the neck. But if things are looking good then there might be a chance to come out of it then.

"It drives me mad, I hate it. You want to be out there, you want to be a part of it. Through the good wins you want to be in the changing room to celebrate and with the bad losses you think you could have made a difference. That's always difficult."

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