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“There are areas of our game that are a massive strength of ours, and [that] we need to continue to work on, and we get the chance to do that in the bye week.

“We don’t need to go back to the drawing board.”

Harry Wilson (fractured arm), Liam Wright (shoulder) and Josh Nasser (shoulder) are the other high-profile casualties to remain sidelined for the foreseeable future.

Kiss has backed the depth of his squad to get the job done, having used 33 players this year while employing a rest and rotation policy.

Centre Dre Pakeho, halfback Kalani Thomas, hooker Richie Asiata and backrowers Joe Brial and John Bryant are the standouts who have proved themselves in the absence of their Test stars.

The absence of Nasser, who is expected to return to training in the next two weeks, and Faessler have put the hooker stocks at an alarming low, with Asiata now to shoulder much of the burden, with George Blake a chance to earn a recall.

Asiata has cast aside an injury-plagued 2024 to become a staple of the side, capitalising on a stint in New Zealand’s Mitre 10 Cup before starring throughout the Reds’ off-season clashes – namely with a hat-trick against Wales.

He will now be tasked with overturning his team’s inconsistencies at the lineout, where they rank last in the competition for wins.

“Richie’s been impressive all year. Last year he had a few injuries, but when we went away and opened up an opportunity for him to play in New Zealand … he just started to find his rhythm and mojo,” Kiss said.

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“He knows there’s improvement in his set piece and a few things, but he’s going to keep working hard. He’s going to be essential when we’ve got some injuries in hooker for sure.”

Throughout the club’s injury woes, another constant narrative has been talk about Kiss’ future.

The former State of Origin flyer looms as the leading contender to replace current national coach Joe Schmidt after this year’s Rugby Championship.