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From the West:
All Blacks five-eighth worries deepen
12th July 2009, 13:15 WST
Injury has prevented new All Blacks five-eighth Luke McAlister from playing club rugby for a second weekend, leaving question marks over his fitness for the Tri-Nations series opener against Australia on Saturday.
McAlister has been sidelined by a back strain since the Test win over Italy at Christchurch two weeks ago.
He took no part in last week’s two-day All Blacks camp in Wellington while two intended matches for his North Harbour club Silverdale have fallen through.
On Thursday, All Blacks coach Graham Henry rated McAlister a 50 per cent chance of playing for his club on Saturday but at that stage felt the 25-year-old was a likely Test starter either way.
Henry’s other five-eighth option, Stephen Donald, will definitely miss the Test with a hamstring injury.
If McAlister doesn’t play, halfback Piri Weepu shapes as the most likely solution to wear No.10 at Eden Park.
Meanwhile, a handful of other All Blacks squad members played for their clubs yesterday, including returning loose forwards Richie McCaw and Rodney So’oialo, who played their first games in seven weeks.
Captain McCaw was happy with how his injured knee came through 45 minutes for his Christchurch club.
“The knee was really really good, it was probably just the lungs that were the only thing,” McCaw said.
“I got the ball in hand a wee bit, made a few tackles. That was what I was after.
“It was nice to have a hit-out going into next weekend and good to have a run with the boys.”
WELLINGTON
NZPA
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I wonder how much is smoke-screen? Mind you, if McCaw's only got 45 minutes of rugby in the last two months, we should try and run his legs off.
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Originally Posted by Burgs
