Under the knife.

Ireland have been hit with another potential big injury blow ahead of the Six Nations restart in October with lock Iain Henderson undergoing surgery.

The surgery is set to keep him out for a period of 8-10 weeks, an Ulster Rugby statement read. This makes him a huge doubt for Ireland’s remaining rescheduled fixtures with Italy and France.

“Iain Henderson recently underwent hip surgery and is expected to be unavailable for a period of 8-10 weeks – with an estimated return date of mid-late October,” Ulster said.

Ireland host Italy on October 24 before finishing their campaign in Paris a week later and the news come not long after Leinster reported James Ryan could also be out for those games after he injured his shoulder in training.

Munster’s Tadhg Beirne is also struggling for fitness and the moment potentially leaving Andy Farrell very light in the second-row for those rescheduled fixtures.

It’s also a huge blow for Ulster with Henderson definitely out of their Champions Cup quarter-final clash with Toulouse.