The 24-year-old picked up the injury during the 35-17 loss to Auckland at Eden Park on Saturday.
Jackson was not available for comment yesterday, but management confirmed Jackson had ruptured his Achilles.
It is the kind of injury that can take up to a year to fully heal, so it is a big blow for him.
The former New Zealand under-20 player is no stranger to adversity. In 2019, he took a bang to the knee during a club game and it started swelling and did not stop.
He was suffering from cellulitis and had to wait a week or so for an operation.
Jackson ended up spending 31 days in hospital and had five operations. He turned 21 while on the ward and ended up missing the rest of the season.
He had made his Super Rugby debut for the Highlanders earlier that year and would have been looking forward to a big NPC campaign to consolidate his improvements.
Jackson got an opportunity to join the Crusaders this season and played six games for the Super Rugby Pacific champions.
Henry Bell has been the preferred starting hooker for Otago this season, but Jackson’s loss will be sorely felt.
Taieri’s Brady Robertson is the back-up hooker and will likely come on to the bench for Otago’s game against Bay of Plenty at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Sunday.
One of the Otago development hookers, Harry Press or Jake McEwan, may be called in as another option.
