Jack Conan will miss the 2020 Six Nations after surgery on the foot injury that ended his World Cup early.
The Leinster flanker went under the knife last week and the province confirmed the 27-year-old will be out of contention for “up to six months”.
Conan had been pencilled in to start Ireland’s shock pool defeat to Japan but was ruled out after suffering the injury in training.
“The timeline doesn’t look great, it’s a significant period out for him,” said Leinster boss Leo Cullen.
The Blues are already expected to be without fellow back rower Dan Leavy for the season after he suffered a horror knee injury in the Champions Cup quarter-final win over Ulster in April.
But Leinster are in the dark over Sean Cronin’s availability after the hooker’s World Cup involvement ended early with a neck injury.
“We’re getting Sean assessed,” Cullen said. “He will be further assessed but he’s not ready for Saturday against Zebre.”
Out-half Ciaran Frawley has returned to training after an ankle injury but also misses out this week.
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