Bledisloe Update: Injury Woes Hit the Tournament
All Blacks Aaron Cruden, Beuden Barrett and Dan Carter are all out with injuries in 2013's Bledisloe Tournament.
The main cause of concern for the Kiwis is to find a fly-half who could not only fill-in for the vacancy, but as well as to help improve the team's performance moving forward.
Colin Slade is leading the race to get the call-up, but Wallaby Christian Lealiifano believes that highly-touted rookie Tom Taylor of the Crusaders could also fit the bill.
"Anyone they've produced so far has done a fantastic job so I'm sure the next replacement will be equally as good." Lealiifano told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH)
"I think they're talking Colin Slade, guys who have been around the mix before so they will find combinations pretty quick because they've got a lot of experience there."
Instead of paying attention of the other team's own setbacks, Lealiifano in more concerned with the Wallabies own preparations, particularly on the tactical aspect, for the game on Saturday.
He confided that they are feeling confident of the links and combinations that they are working on, under the tutelage of Coach Ewen McKenzie.
"We've got to try not to worry too much about their changes, we've got to look back at our game and try to improve and minimize our mistakes," Lealiifano said.
"We need to be a bit more clinical about what we do."
"We scored 29 points but we left a bit out there as well."
The Wallabies were error prone during the first match, which limited winger Israel Folau's involvement and effectivity on offense.
"He's a key player in our side that we look to try to get the ball to and unfortunately we didn't do that."
"We're going to try and play a bit more expansive style and see if we can get him as many touches as he can."
Hugh McMeniman, on the other hand, will not be able to fly out with the team because of a shoulder injury which he sustained from this year's Rugby Championship.
The medical team advised that undergoing reconstructive surgery would be the best option, at this point.
McMeniman, with 21 Test caps on his CV, was supposed to represent the Wallabies for the first time since 2008.