Prop Donna Rose will miss the rest of the season, including Wales' 2025 Six Nations campaign, because of a neck injury.
Her club side Saracens confirmed the forward has undergone surgery on her neck that will rule Rose out for the remainder of the 2024-25 league season.
The 33-year-old posted on social media to say she expected to be sidelined for a long spell.
"Hard one to take missing the rest of the season, especially as there's the potential to have a final at home," Rose said on Instagram.
Rose previously missed a year of her career after snapping her anterior cruciate ligament and tearing her meniscus in one of her first training sessions with Saracens following the delayed Rugby World Cup in 2022.
She has also talked openly about living and playing with borderline personality disorder.
Saracens are third in Premiership Women's Rugby, seven points behind leaders Exeter Chiefs.
Rose, who said she would remain Saracens women's "biggest supporter" for the rest of the season, also expressed gratitude for those who had offered her support as she told followers she was leaving hospital.
"Thank you all for the messages and the sport, goes a long way," she said, adding beneath a picture of her in a hospital bed: "Drains out and heading home later."