Emerging lock James Horwill has been ruled out of the Wallabies' upcoming spring tour after succumbing to an ongoing foot injury.
The 23-year-old was forced to withdraw from the 34-man squad on Friday after scans revealed he requires surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left foot.
"Unfortunately the verdict of the specialist was that James is going to require surgery immediately to get the ligament repaired," Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said.
"And that means having to forgo the opportunity to participate on our tour."
"It's disappointing news, but playing on wasn't an option."
"The injury (suffered against the Springboks in July) had been given plenty of opportunity to settle but hasn't, while we've managed James through the back half of the (domestic campaign), the improvement to the ligament that was expected hasn't materialised,"
"In that circumstance, there really wasn't any choice but to get the operation done, and get it done now."
Horwill now faces a lengthy stint on the sidelines and a gruelling six-month rehabilitation period meaning he will almost certainly miss the first half of the Reds' Super 14 campaign.
The giant lock was a pivotal member of the Wallabies squad under Deans throughout the domestic campaign as one of four players to start all nine matches.
"It's probably of small comfort to James at the moment, but he's made an excellent start to his Test career, and one we all know that he is going to build on," Deans said.
Reds coach Phil Mooney added: "It's a big blow for 'Kev' (Horwill) and I know he's desperately disappointed, but the key thing now is to get the surgery done, get in the break that he needs, and then go through the recovery stages without forcing anything."
"He certainly won't be rushed back, his body will tell us through the rehab period when the time is right."
"While he will obviously be missed by the Reds at the start of next season, there's no way we'll compromise his ability to contribute to both Queensland and Australia in the future by taking any unnecessary risks to try and get him back on the field any earlier than when he is ready."
A decision on Horwill's replacement for the upcoming six-match tour has not yet been made.