France hooker Dimitri Szarzewski has been ruled out of the rest of the RBS 6 Nations Championship with a shoulder injury.
The Stade Francais front-row forward's recurrent problem reared up again when he came on as a substitute for Raphael Ibanez in the second half of Les Bleus' 39-3 win over Italy on Saturday.
'I could be unavailable for three or four months,' he admitted.
Team manager Jo Maso added: 'Dimitri had been in trouble with his shoulder for a long time. He felt pain during the game against Italy.'
It leaves France with just two hookers in their squad - Ibanez and Sebastien Bruno.
France will on Tuesday name their team for Sunday's match against Ireland at Croke Park.