The Lions will be without Ruan Venter for Saturday's final URC round-robin fixture against Munster after the loosehead left the field in the fourth minute of Friday's 7-31 defeat to Leinster at the Aviva Stadium clutching his knee.
Venter flew back to South Africa on Sunday to undergo scans, with head coach Ivan van Rooyen confirming the severity remains unclear. "We hope it's not horrible news, but he is in quite a bit of discomfort and pain," van Rooyen said. "We're waiting to see the results of the scan."
The defeat itself was tighter than the scoreline suggests. Leinster led by only seven points at the 68-minute mark before Hugo Keenan, Rieko Ioane, and Jimmy O'Brien crossed in quick succession to turn a contest into a rout. Van Rooyen attributed the collapse to three defensive errors in a ten-minute window and pointed to refereeing calls he felt went against his side at a critical juncture.
"If you make three defensive errors against a quality Leinster team away, they will punish you," he said.
The stakes heading into Saturday are straightforward: Munster sit two points behind the Lions after losing away to Connacht, meaning both sides need the win to secure a quarterfinal place. Van Rooyen is treating it accordingly. "We will see the Munster fixture as a must-win game for both teams. We will keep the permutations up to us — that's our mindset."