The All Blacks can breathe a sigh of relief over the fitness of captain Ardie Savea and hooker Codie Taylor, who are both showing good signs of recovery after Sunday's victory against Australia.
In the third and final Bledisloe Cup test for 2021, the All Blacks overcame a red card to Jordie Barrett, running in six tries to take a comfortable 38-21 victory over the Wallabies at Perth's Optus Stadium.
The sending-off aside, the only worrying facet of Sunday's win was the fitness of Savea and Taylor, who both failed head injury assessments (HIA) and did not return to the field after halftime.
But the pair are showing all the right signs for an immediate return, defence coach Scott McLeod says.
They will go through the necessary concussion protocols this week, as the All Blacks build up to face Argentina on the Gold Coast next Sunday.
"Our two biggest concerns from yesterday were Codie and Ardie," McLeod says. "They've both woken up feeling well this morning, symptom free.
"They'll go through our process this week and just see how they travel each day. We'll make a decision on that."
But after sweeping Australia 3-0, winning twice at Eden Park and once in Perth, the All Blacks can now look ahead to their next opponents, Argentina.
Los Pumas have proved themselves ample competition for the All Blacks, famously defeating Ian Foster's side 25-15 in Sydney last year.
And while the All Blacks convincingly won the reverse fixture 38-0 two weeks later, McLeod knows what to expect from Argentina, when they lock horns again on Sunday.
"I see them playing to their strengths," he adds. "[They're] very big men up front, who carry the ball... they bowl heavy balls really.
"[We need to work on] our ability to stop them and try to dominate those collisions, but also their backs [have] very good footwork in the contact, able to evade really well. Their halves run a really good gameplan, make really good decisions and put the ball into space."
"Different challenge for us, compared to Australia, but we're going to get that for the next four games, so it's something we're really aware of."
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