Bad news coming in from the western front.
The IRFU issued a medical bulletin this evening with the news no-one wanted to hear - three broken vertabrae in Jamie Heaslip's back have ruled the No.8 out of Ireland's showdown with England next weekend.
The Leinster captain limped out of his team's 18-11 win over France, on Saturday, after he copped a hefty knee in the back from second-row Pascal Papé, who has since been cited for the incident and has been ruled out for up to four weeks.
This is the incident that has caused Heaslip so much pain and consternation.
http://youtu.be/wRtkmDXLzcI
The IRFU statement read: 'Scans have revealed fractures of the transverse process of three vertebrae in Jamie's back. Although this injury causes a good deal of discomfort it does not impact on the structural integrity of the spine, and once healed should pose no long term issues.
Typically this injury is treated akin to a soft tissue injury; according to symptoms. Jamie is already feeling more comfortable and it is hoped that he will be available to play again in approximately four weeks.'
With Ireland due to face Wales a fortnight after the England game and Scotland a week later, Heaslip could in theory feature in one or both of those games.
Heaslip's shoulder injury, and a knee niggle, kept him out of the Six Nations opener against Italy but he returned with an assured outing for 60 minutes until Papé intervened.
The favourite to take Heaslip's place in the Irish back row, for the remainder of the tournament, is his Leinster colleague, Jordi Murphy.
Meanwhile, Munster prop James Cronin has had a minor knee operation to correct an injury sustained against Italy.
