Ireland and Leinster captain Caelan Doris faces up to six months on the sidelines following shoulder surgery, the Irish club have announced.
The 27-year-old loose forward was injured in Leinster’s 37-34 Investec Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton on 3 May.
He was last week left out of the British & Irish Lions’ squad for the upcoming tour of Australia by head coach Andy Farrell.
Doris had previously been a front-runner for the Lions captaincy, which was given to England and Saracens lock Maro Itoje.
“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,” Leinster said in a statement on Monday.
In addition to the major disappointment of missing what would have been the first Lions tour of his career, Doris is now a doubt for Ireland’s internationals later this year.
Ireland, who take on Georgia and Portugal in July, face New Zealand in Chicago on 1 November before hosting Japan, Australia and the world champion Springboks in Dublin.
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