The All Blacks are preparing to play the entirety of the Rugby Championship without captain Sam Cane, coach Ian Foster says.
Cane, 29, has been out of action since April after undergoing surgery on a torn pectoral muscle suffered playing for the Chiefs in Super Rugby Aotearoa.
As a result, Sam Whitelock and Aaron Smith have taken on the All Blacks' captaincy to begin the 2021 season, with the two senior players leading against Tonga and Fiji respectively.
Meanwhile in the No.7 jersey, Dalton Papalii and Ethan Blackadder have played on the openside of the scrum in the first two test matches of 2021, with Ardie Savea to make it three different players in three games for the second test against Fiji, played on Saturday in Hamilton.
Speaking to media though, Foster says while Cane is doing everything to recover properly from his injury, the chances of playing in the Rugby Championship this year appear to be slim.
"Sam could still be out for a significant amount of test matches," Foster says. "We've got to prepare for the here and now.
"What I do know is he's tracking really, really well. At the time we put a six month towards the end of September [timeframe], that's still looking on track.
"What that means in terms of his return for us is [that] we're not going to know until closer to that time.
"At the moment, I can't see him being around for the Rugby Championship."
The All Blacks' Rugby Championship campaign begins on August 28 against the Wallabies in Wellington, and finishes on October 2 against South Africa in Auckland.
However, should Cane's return fulfill the All Blacks' late September prediction, it would be unlikely for Foster and his coaching staff to rush their skipper into test rugby straight away.
As a result, Foster says that Cane could turn out for a rare appearance with Bay of Plenty at provincial level.
"If he is available at the end, then there's probably the chance we put him into the NPC for a game or two," Foster adds.
"But it's around about that sort of mid to late September period."
Join Newshub for live updates of the second test between the All Blacks and Fiji from 7pm Saturday.
