Tagicakibau has made just 11 appearances for the Exiles this season

London Irish look certain to be without Sailosi Tagicakibau and Clarke Dermody for the rest of the season.

Both players have undergone surgery on injuries and are ruled out for at least eight weeks.

Wing Tagicakibau, 27, is battling a foot problem, while 29-year-old prop Dermody is out with a back injury.

Coach Toby Booth told BBC Berkshire: "We're devastated by all of our long-term injuries, but in particular people like Clarke and Sailosi."

He added: "They are front-line players and ultimately you want them available.

"That's not to discredit the people who are going out there because they're doing a fantastic job too."

Irish have a number of long-term injuries, including Alex Corbisiero, Declan Danaher and Adam Thompstone.

But Booth said losing Tagicakibau - the club's top scorer despite his injury - was a particularly bad blow.

"It's very unfortunate as he's one of our focal players. It's another long-term injury that we could do without, but everyone gets long-term injuries so we just roll our sleeves up and get on with it," he said.

"Clarke had an operation on Friday and has the same time-span and that makes things extremely difficult."

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