Dave Rennie has flagged Damian McKenzie as the most significant injury concern in his squad ahead of the opening Test against the Springboks at Ellis Park on August 22, after the fullback missed the 50-19 win over the Bulls on Saturday with an ankle problem.
Rennie is more optimistic about wing Will Jordan (back) and scrumhalf Cam Roigard (calf), both of whom have been sidelined for a month but came through training ahead of the Bulls match. "Both Will and Cam got through a bit of training, we are pretty confident they're going to be right for next week," Rennie said. "We are probably less confident about Damian, but still think he has a good chance to play. Hopefully he can train well on Tuesday."
Prop Xavier Numia is carrying a stiff Achilles from the Bulls game, while scrumhalf Cortez Ratima took a blow to the knee, adding to Rennie's selection headaches ahead of the series opener.
The Bulls win was the All Blacks' third victory on their Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour, though Rennie was measured in drawing conclusions from it. He acknowledged that standout performers such as Pete Lakai and Anton Segner had pressed their Test claims, but was careful to contextualise the tour results. "That certainly wasn't our Test side, so there will be a number of changes, but there was some really good performances that will put pressure on us from a selection point of view. What we know is that the intensity level and the quality that we are going to come up against next week is three, four, five-fold."