Declan Kidney's Irish side have been dealt a major blow ahead of the Autumn Internationals with news that Brian O'Driscoll and Ulster hooker Rory Best will both miss the series.
The IRFU con fired the news on their official website on Tuesday afternoon:
"O'Driscoll picked up an ankle injury in the game against the Cardiff Blues and following further scans and specialist review by the Ireland medical team, it has been decided that the injury will require surgery to repair ligament damage, ruling out O'Driscoll from playing for 8-12 weeks.
Rory Best been ruled out of the games against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina, due to a neck injury he sustained last Friday playing in the Rabodirect Pro12 game in Wales against the Dragons.
Following a scan and medical review, it was confirmed that Best has sprained ligaments in his neck which will require a rest and rehabilitation period of between 4-6 weeks before a further assessment of the injury."
ireland face South Africa on Saturday 10th November in the Aviva Stadium before going on to face Fiji and Argentina on the 17th and 24th of the month.