Sean O'Brien has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup with a hip injury.
O'Brien, 32, suffered the injury in Leinster's Champions Cup final loss against Saracens just over a fortnight ago and missed Saturday's PRO14 final victory in Glasgow.
He lifted the trophy surrounded by the Leinster players in Celtic Park but the Tullow Tank is to undergo surgery on the problem in the coming weeks and will be out of action for six months.
The influential back row moves to London Irish in the summer on a lucrative three-year deal and, given the IRFU's current policy of not selecting foreign-based players, has most likely played his last game for his country.
Ireland boss Joe Schmidt will name a provisional training squad of over 40 players for the finals either tomorrow or on Tuesday.
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
