Caelan Doris could face as many as six months out of action after his British and Irish Lions hopes were wrecked by a shoulder injury.
The Ireland No 8 had been a leading contender to be named captain of the quadrennial tourists by head coach Andy Farrell before sustaining the injury in the Leinster’s Investec Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton.
The 27-year-old underwent surgery on Friday, a day after Maro Itoje was confirmed as skipper of the Lions squad, and now faces a race to be fit for the November internationals after a bitter blow.
His Dublin club confirmed in a statement: “Caelan Doris had a procedure on Friday last week for a shoulder injury which will keep him out of action for between four to six months.”
Doris was an all-but-certain tourist to Australia before the cruellest of setbacks having emerged as a pillar of consistency in Ireland’s back row under Farrell over the last four years.
The No 8 had started 40 of his national side’s last 43 Tests, putting him in a strong position to vie for the captaincy with England lock Itoje.
In the absence of Doris, Farrell has opted to take a club and country colleague in Jack Conan and Ben Earl as his leading options at the back of the scrum, with Jac Morgan, Henry Pollock and Tom Curry also having featured occasionally at the position.
“As you can imagine, he's devastated,” Farrell said last week having spoken to Doris after his injury. “He would have definitely been in the mix, such an experienced player and leader.
“It's devastating for people like that. But the stories are constant in every single tour and sport can be cruel sometimes. But Caelan will be back bigger and stronger.”
