Munster captain Peter O'Mahony says he was "gutted" to hear of the retirement of Leinster flanker Dan Leavy.
The 27-year-old was forced to call time on his career today due to the lasting effects of his serious knee injury in 2019.
Leavy played 11 times for Ireland between 2016 and 2018, forming an excellent partnership with both O'Mahony and CJ Stander in the back row for the 2018 Grand Slam Six Nations campaign.
And O'Mahony, who is also chairman of the Rugby Players Ireland body, says the news of his retirement will be felt across all four provinces.
"I certainly want to start off by saying I'm gutted to hear the news for him. An incredible athlete, an incredible rugby player, but he's a top man which is more important.
"Playing alongside him, I was lucky enough to do it in the 2018 season when we won the Slam, and he was into everything, an incredibly pivotal role in that campaign and that team.
"He really kicked on into that group, that younger age group that's with Ireland, he really kicked on with them and was destined for great things.
"It's very tough for everyone playing rugby in Ireland, to hear that kind of news. Just a good person, mainly, that's the main reason.
"An incredible rugby player that Leinster and Ireland have lost. It's sad news," the Munster skipper said, who suffered a similar injury in 2015, which saw him sidelined for 12 months.
This Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup last-16 first leg match is a first competitive meeting of Munster and Exeter since their low-scoring meetings in the 2018/19 pool stages, where they drew 10-10 at Sandy Park before Munster edged a 9-7 scoreline in Limerick.
The Chiefs have since gone onto win a Premiership and European double in 2020, and O'Mahony believes there's likely to be very little between the sides across both legs.
"We're expecting a huge battle obviously going to Sandy Park, we know their record there, what a good club they are and the people they have there, the quality of player.
"We know it's going to be a huge test this weekend, and I'd lying if I said it'll be any different.
They're a quality outfit. I think their pack certainly is their go-to.
"You look at their team across the board, they have threats all over the place, their back three and Slade in the centre, their half-backs are incredibly dynamic.
"Their pack - I've been watching them for a long time - is the cornerstone of their game. They've consistently been a well rounded team."
Munster are likely to be without Gavin Coombes, Tadhg Beirne and Dave Kilcoyne for both legs of their Heineken Champions Cup last 16 tie with Exeter, the first leg of which takes place at Sandy Park on Saturday.
Coombes suffered an ankle injury in last weekend's defeat to Leinster while Kilcoyne (neck) and Beirne (thigh) were yesterday ruled out of the first leg.
The province are yet to put a timeline on Coombes' recovery, but senior coach Stephen Larkham says it's "unlikely" he would recover before the return leg at Thomond Park on 16 April.
The Round of 16 will also present the novelty of a home-and-away aggregate format over two legs, something that's new to top level rugby.
But the 32-year old says they won't change be changing their approach.
"We do have the reference of the old Christmas games, the back-to-back games that we did have in Europe. I know it isn't the same but we've had that dynamic before.
"I think you just take it game by game, and see where it goes. Everyone is in the same boat, this is a new format for everyone, so we're all learning on the go. We'll take the first one up as it comes."
Follow Connacht v Leinster (Friday 8pm), Toulouse v Ulster (Saturday 3.15pm) and Exeter v Munster (Saturday 5.30pm) via our live blogs on rte.ie/sport and on the RTÉ News App or listen to live radio coverage (Connacht v Leinster, Toulouse v Ulster) on RTÉ Radio 1.
