Scotland tight-head WP Nel is out of the Six Nations and probably British and Irish Lions contention after a scan found damage to a disc in his neck.
The South Africa-born prop lasted only half an hour of his comeback game for Edinburgh against Harlequins last Saturday having missed nearly three months resting the neck problem with a view to being fit for the championship.
However it now seems likely that corrective surgery will be required and he will miss the championship, in fact the entire international season having been on the sidelines for the three tests in November.
The injury is a huge blow to Nel – who has played in 15 internationals since he qualified to play for Scotland on residency grounds prior to the 2015 Rugby World Cup – as it comes as he was on the verge of Lions recognition and preparing to for the end of his current contract with Edinburgh.
Talks about a new deal with the capital club were underway but Nel’s performances since settling in Scotland had attracted considerable interest from big-spending French and English clubs.
He was also being touted as a Lions tourist this summer to New Zealand, but that seems unlikely now.
The option of an operation on Nel’s neck problem was rejected in October in favour of the rest period, but despite three months off the injury flared almost immediately on his return.
A second specialist is to be consulted to determine whether corrective surgery is now required, which would almost certainly rule him out for the rest of this current season.
Scotland’s Six Nations squad, named by Vern Cotter earlier this week, drops to 36 players.
Edinburgh’s uncapped tight-head Simon Berghan had been called up in lieu of a decision on Nel, but Glasgow’s 20-year-old Zander Fagerson, who started all three tests in November, is likely to be the frontline starter again.