Ireland's World Cup hopes were dashed largely in part to some huge injuries to Johnny Sexton, Paul O'Connell, Jared Payne, and Peter O'Mahony. While the torn hamstring of the bone for Paul O'Connell garnered the most attention and ended his international career, he's not the only player that Ireland will be without for next season's Six Nations.
The IRFU have confirmed that Munster captain Peter O'Mahony will require surgery on his ACL. Fans of NFL will know how serious an ACL injury is, and that O'Mahony requires surgery means that he will be out for at least six months.
The IRFU statement said that O'Mahony will undergo surgery in the coming weeks once his knee settles down after rupturing his ACL. This should mean that O'Mahony is a serious doubt to participate in the Six Nations at all, where he would be a strong contender to replace Paul O'Connell as the next Irish captain.
In other Munster injury news, Irish capped tighthead prop Stephen Archer also requires surgery for a neck problem, while academy second row John Madigan needs surgery for a similar knee injury to O'Mahony.
[Irish Rugby]
Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE