Keith Wood has said he will miss Ireland's opening Six Nations clash if he fails to recover from a torn calf by this weekend.
The Ireland captain pulled up during Harlequins's Powergen Cup tie with Sale on December 15th and has been sidelined since.
With Ireland due to meet Wales on February 3rd, Wood today said he must play in Harlequins's Zurich Premiership match against Northampton on Saturday.
"There is no point going into an international not having played for six or seven weeks," the hooker said today. "I would be no value to anyone and I'd rather miss it than play badly".
Wood said: "I've started running which is the main thing, normally you can take things from there. The injury proved a lot worse than I initially thought. I tore the calf and there was a lot of blood. It's not been resolved yet and nothing is set in stone".