Five-eighth Colin Slade and three uncapped players have been called into the All Blacks squad as injury cover ahead of the second Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship Test.
Slade, inside back Tom Taylor, loose forward Luke Whitelock and flanker Brad Shields were to join the squad in Wellington on Monday ahead of the Test against Australia on Saturday.
The injury-plagued Slade, 25, could be in line for his 11th Test and his first since the 2011 World Cup quarter-final against Argentina because of injuries to Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett.
Cruden, man of the match in the 47-29 defeat of the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday, is nursing a sore knee.
Barrett, who replaced him for the last 10 minutes, suffered a calf injury and was to be assessed with a scan on Monday.
Because both players are in doubt, and veteran playmaker Dan Carter is still sidelined with a calf injury, Taylor has been called in alongside Slade.
In the forwards, lock Luke Romano will undergo a scan this week to determine the extent of the groin injury suffered 17 minutes into the Sydney Test.
With loose forward Liam Messam already battling a hamstring injury, the All Black coaches have again doubled up by calling up 22-year-olds Whitelock and Shields.
Taylor, Whitelock and Shields have all been part of the All Blacks’ wider training camps this year.
Taylor, 24, was called in as injury cover ahead of their tour-ending Test against England last December but wasn’t included in the playing squad.
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