Max Jorgensen is set to miss the majority of the Super Rugby regular season but be fit for the Lions tour after learning his fate following his ankle injury.
Jorgensen limped off the field early in the heavy defeat to the Hurricanes after a hip-drop style tackle.
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Waratahs coach Dan McKellar confirmed after the game that it was an injury to his syndesmosis, with the Waratahs expecting him on the sidelines for 6-8 weeks.
It’s untimely news for the club, who are currently fifth and fighting for a spot in the finals.
However, it’s a positive revelation for Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, considering a high-grade syndesmosis injury holds a 3-6 month recovery time and would've ruled him out of the Lions tour
There are nine weeks of the regular season remaining, with the fifth-placed Waratahs having the bye in round 11 in four weeks time.
Travelling to Auckland to next face Moana Pasifika, who shocked the Crusaders, the Tahs are also set to be without play-maker Lawson Creighton, who followed Jorgensen off following a head knock.
They are already missing skipper and Wallabies scrumhalf Jake Gordon (medial ligament) and former Test hooker Dave Porecki (calf) among a bulging casualty ward.
Lock Ben Grant said the team felt for "Jorgo", who had been a consistent performer in the Waratahs' impressive 4-2 start to the season.
"He's been enormous for us and I hurt for the fella because he's just been coming into some of his best form of his career and for that to kind of happen to him, it's unfair," the 26-year-old said.
Having spent the 2024 season with the Wellington club, Grant said the Hurricanes thumping had been difficult to digest for the entire NSW camp.
"The body's sore but I think the heart's a little bit sorer, " Grant said.
"To start our season as well as we have, a really good performance that we were proud of last week against the Brumbies, and to produce something like that, it's not just me that's disappointed, but the entire playing group and coaching staff as well.
"Against those big, strong New Zealand forward packs in particular, you've got to turn up physically and it's probably something that we didn't do, which is disappointing because we know we've got the potential and the cavalry to do it.
"Moana are such a big physical team with so many good athletes, and if we give them a sniff like we did on the weekend, they're going to hurt us for it, so we know what the challenge is ahead."
