Andy Farrell says he's "devastated" for Cian Healy, after the Ireland prop's calf injury saw him miss out on the Rugby World Cup squad.
The 35-year-old was left out of Farrell's 33-man squad for the tournament in France next month, after suffering a calf injury in last night's 17-13 win against Samoa in Bayonne.
The loosehead had a scan on the injury after the Ireland squad arrived back in Dublin this morning, and the injury was enough to rule him out of contention, with Jeremy Loughman taking his spot alongside Andrew Porter and Dave Kilcoyne.
"He hasn't [made it], he's just had a scan as we got off the plane and he'll be out for a spell of time that won't be right, unfortunately, for Cian and for us, certainly for the start of the competition," Farrell said.
"It's devastating, isn't it? That's sport, that's life, that's rugby. Cian's big enough and old enough and experienced enough to be through these type of things before, I remember in 2013 on the Lions he got injured early and had to fly home.
"He's experienced something like this and understands that these things happen. He's devastated, as we are for him."
The early indication from the Ireland camp is that Healy will be sidelined for between five and ten weeks, depending on how his rehabilitation goes. If his recovery is smooth, Farrell says there's a possibility he could be available as an injury replacement should Ireland reach the latter stages of the competition.
"We'll see how his rehab goes during it, you'd never know towards the back end if he could be a replacement or not.
"How that rehab carries on is something that we'll keep a track of as we go."
Healy would have been the most experienced player in the Ireland squad having made his 125th Test appearance in last night's warm-up game. Johnny Sexton, who has played with Healy at three previous World Cups, says the veteran prop will be sorely missed.
"He has been through ups and downs in his career, he's a very, very decorated player, a great player," the Irish captain said.
"We're going to miss him. I'm gutted for him to miss this tournament.
"It has meant a lot to him in how he has prepared for it and how he has trained, so I'm gutted for him."
There were no major surprises in the panel named by Farrell, with Joe McCarthy preferred to Cian Prendergast in the forwards, and Stuart McCloskey and Keith Earls selected in the backline ahead of Ciarán Frawley and Jacob Stockdale.
Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher are selected at hooker along with Rob Herring, which points favourably to the Leinster pair being passed fit after carrying injuries in the last two weeks.
The split of 18 forwards and 15 backs goes against the trend that the majority of Ireland's rivals have taken, with New Zealand the only other major contender to go against the preferred 19:14 split.
The ability of Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson and Ryan Baird to switch between second and back row allowed Farrell the scope to choose one less forward, and he says he's confident their versatility will ensure the Irish pack aren't short-changed.
"Confident? Of course I am," Farrell added.
"Like I said, it's about what we've got and players who can play in a few positions. We've got a few of those across the forward pack.
"The balance of the squad for such a small group that goes to the World Cup, versatility within that is pretty important. The likes of Keith [Earls] and Jimmy O'Brien come into that category."
While the squad announcement was a dream come true for some, it came as a crushing blow to others who missed out, with Stockdale, Frawley, Jamie Osborne, Tom Stewart and Diarmuid Barron all now having to rely on an injury to be brought into the squad.
And Farrell says while it was tough to deliver the bad news, he was impressed with the responses of those left disappointed.
"It's obviously difficult because you're shattering somebody's dream, but I would hope that through all campaigns you don't let bad news become a shock.
"You're constantly giving feedback to them, to let them know where they're at and players are not stupid. They've always got a sense of where they're at along the way.
"What I would say is that the reason it is difficult for myself to tell those five players the other day is that they made it very easy for me, their understanding that they're all team players. There's no selfishness in the group.
"If you have a look at everyone else naming their squads so early, the reason that happens is that they want to get to the 33 and make sure that they push everyone else on so there's no disruptions along the way.
"We have none of that ever, because the quality of people we have. Their team-first people and that's why it's hard to shatter their dreams."
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