Munster forwards coach Andi Kyriacou has backed Edwin Edogbo to come back even stronger, after it was confirmed the second row would have surgery on the achilles injury he suffered in Tuesday's defeat to Leinster.
The 21-year-old - who has already played 15 times for the province in his young career - was carted off early in the second half of the province's loss on St Stephen's Day, having instantly fallen to the ground after receiving a pass.
Edogbo has had previous issues with achilles tendon injuries, and his latest surgery now looks set to keep him sidelined until the end of the campaign.
"A huge blow for both [Munster and the player], I'm not going to lie," Kyriacou said this afternoon.
"We saw it instantly in the game and all our heads went into our hands, we were absolutely devastated for him."
While Edogbo only turned 21 a week ago, the Cobh native has already become a key player for the province this season, starting seven of their 10 games and scoring three tries, making him among the brightest prospects in Irish rugby.
And Kyriacou [pictured below] has backed him to kick on and fulfil his potential when he recovers from this injury setback.
"He's a kid who's worked incredibly hard at his game and his craft. He's shown huge improvements in the technical side, around the tight stuff in the forward side of the game and his mauling is incredible.
"Some of the stuff he did against Leinster was superb, the way he cleans people out in phase play, the way he puts shots in defensively, he was looking good and we were all excited about where he was going so it's a real shame that he's not able to continue that this season.
"We'll get him right. He's shown huge resilience mentally to bounce back from the last one and we've no doubt that he'll show the same characteristics along this rehab journey he's about to go on again."
Munster flanker John Hodnett also backed the academy lock to come back stronger, having gone through a similar injury three years ago, when he was sidelined from November 2020 until October 2021.
"It's a tough injury to get, I actually did it myself a couple of years ago, and a few others in the squad have as well," he said.
"Its a long one, a tough one on him, because he was playing very well. It's a tough one to take and a long rehab, so we wish him the best with it."
The province also look set to be without hooker Diarmuid Barron and loosehead Dave Kilcoyne for a period of time, with the pair also potentially heading for surgery on respective foot and shoulder injuries picked up against Leinster.
Centre Alex Nankivell [above] is a doubt for the New Year's Day trip to Connacht due to an ankle injury, which he is having a scan on, while Peter O'Mahony looks set to miss out once again as he continues to rehab a shoulder injury.
Earlier this week, head coach Graham Rowntree admitted he may have to consider some short-term signings with around 17 players currently carrying injuries.
But Kyriacou says they haven't made any decisions on bring in a medical joker yet.
"Not at this point. It's just been a case of getting the review done today and looking through how we can get better as a team.
"Obviously the news has come out today in terms of our injury update, but nothing been discussed at this point. We've got good lads here at the minute that we're looking to develop and bring through.
"There's no getting away from it, it's tough when you have a physio room as loaded with talent as ours. We'll drive on, it's what we do."
In better news, both Conor Murray and Tadhg Beirne are available for selection to face Connacht, after the pair had to be rested for the game with Leinster in line with IRFU player management protocols.
Munster are also hopeful that Fineen Wycherley could return to ease their second row shortage, with the 26-year-old missing the last two games with a neck injury.
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