Star first-five Beauden Barrett seems increasingly unlikely for the final test of All Blacks’ northern tour against France on Sunday (NZ time).
Barrett left the field in just the 15th minute of the loss to Ireland at Dublin last weekend, with a failed concussion test preventing his return.
While the All Blacks quickly put him in the uncertain category for Paris, his status seems to have been downgraded.
The Blues pivot hasn’t returned to training fully this week and hasn't completed his return-to-play protocols, leaving him precious few days to prove his readiness for the French.
"He's in doubt, I would say, especially with it being [Thursday] tomorrow and then our final prep day on [Friday]," says assistant coach John Plumtree.
Richie Mo'unga is the obvious choice as Barrett's replacement, but his halves partner is still unclear.
All four members of the All Blacks' halfback contingent are healthy and fit to play, with Brad Weber passing his head injury assessment and Finlay Christie recovered from a neck injury.
But the urge to inject veteran Aaron Smith into a misfiring backline must be strong, after the Dublin result.
After only joining the squad last week as an injury replacement, the test centurion's lack of recent test match play may count against him.
Smith, 32, hasn't featured for the All Blacks since the second Bledisloe Cup test win over Australia at Eden Park in August, after he stayed in New Zealand for the birth of his second child, although he has played for Manawatū in the National Provincial Championship.
Plumtree says Smith has looked sharp at training, but offered no hint on which direction the selectors are leaning.
"Obviously, it would've been nice for him to have had a couple more games, but he's been here 8-9 days now and been training really well.
"It's certainly nice to have him here with his experience. He's in contention and that's something for us to consider
"All of the nines are available, so we've got a choice to make there. They all offer something different to our game - that selection will be based on how we want to play."
With the wounds of last weekend's heavy defeat to Ireland still raw, Plumtree says there's an extra edge to this week's training, where the focus is on winning the all-important gainline against Les Bleus - an area identified as a primary reason for their Dublin downfall.
"The basic principle of the game is you need momentum and gainline is a big thing, and we didn't get the gainline we needed as a group," he says.
"When we reviewed the performance, it was pretty clear we didn't get the momentum in the game for our attack to function as well as we wanted to.
"We're hoping that doesn't happen this week. We've got to get our game going forward, so we're going back to some things that we're good at that we went away from last week."
France have long been regarded as something of a bogey team for the All Blacks, but recent results paint a very different picture.
New Zealand haven't lost to France since 2009 and last time they lost in Paris was the 1970s, but Plumtree expects a typically unpredictable and dangerous French challenge at the Stade de France on Sunday.
France finished second in this year's Six Nations, and are fresh off wins over Georgia and Argentina over the past fortnight.
"They have big boys up front, and they get their momentum through their off-loading game and their power," he notes. "They can play through the middle of the park, and they're capable of playing out wide as well with their fast outside backs, where they have plenty of speed.
"They've got a couple of key drivers in their team that orchestrate all that, so we know it's going to be a real handful for our defence this week."
Join us at 9am, Sunday for live updates of All Blacks v France
