Andi Kyriacou: Edwin Edogbo injury 'a huge blow' for Munster

Munster forwards coach Andi Kyriacou has backed Edwin Edogbo to come back even stronger, after it was confirmed the second row would have surgery on the achilles injury he suffered in Tuesday's defeat to Leinster.

The 21-year-old - who has already played 15 times for the province in his young career - was carted off early in the second half of the province's loss on St Stephen's Day, having instantly fallen to the ground after receiving a pass.

Edogbo has had previous issues with achilles tendon injuries, and his latest surgery now looks set to keep him sidelined until the end of the campaign.

"A huge blow for both [Munster and the player], I'm not going to lie," Kyriacou said this afternoon.

"We saw it instantly in the game and all our heads went into our hands, we were absolutely devastated for him."

While Edogbo only turned 21 a week ago, the Cobh native has already become a key player for the province this season, starting seven of their 10 games and scoring three tries, making him among the brightest prospects in Irish rugby.

And Kyriacou [pictured below] has backed him to kick on and fulfil his potential when he recovers from this injury setback.

"He's a kid who's worked incredibly hard at his game and his craft. He's shown huge improvements in the technical side, around the tight stuff in the forward side of the game and his mauling is incredible.

"Some of the stuff he did against Leinster was superb, the way he cleans people out in phase play, the way he puts shots in defensively, he was looking good and we were all excited about where he was going so it's a real shame that he's not able to continue that this season.

"We'll get him right. He's shown huge resilience mentally to bounce back from the last one and we've no