All Blacks coach Graham Henry is confident Richie McCaw will be fit to front Australia in next week's Tri-Nations final after his injured skipper along with wing Sitiveni Sivivatu and lock Brad Thorn were left out of the side to play the test against Samoa on Wednesday night.
That trio of first-choice players and backup prop John Afoa weren't considered for the historic test against Samoa, the first time the All Blacks will appear in New Plymouth.
McCaw (ribs), Sivivatu (ankle) and Thorn (hamstring) are all carrying in jury niggles from the 19-nil win over the Springboks in Cape Town.
Afoa hurt a shoulder playing for Auckland last Saturday night and the All Blacks medical staff don't want to risk anything against Samoa who will certainly bring a physical approach to the test.
This is nothing more than a warm-up match after all, with a hugely important fixture against the Wallabies looming.
In McCaw's absence Wellington's Rodney So'oialo will captain the All Blacks in his 50th test and Waikato's Sione Lauaki joins the reserves.
Henry said he expected all four injured players would be fit for the Brisbane test, especially his talismanic skipper.
"I'm very confident he will be fit for Brisbane," Henry said with a big smile.
The injuries mean the All Blacks will carry only three forward reserves, and four backs, tomorrow night - probably a first in their history.
"They are the fit players to be frank," Henry said of his playing 22, adding that with the four injured players expected to be fit for Brisbane, there was no point bringing in extra players.
It meant no call up for Daniel Braid or Kevin O'Neill with Adam Thomson to start at openside and blindside flanker Jerome Kaino covering lock.
The All Blacks are expected to win by a reasonable margin against the under strength Samoans but Henry said the game was still important.
"It will be a four week gap between Cape Town and Brisbane and it's to long to do nothing. We need a game, Samoa wanted to play us and that's great."
Henry said it was important the All Blacks got back into the rhythm of playing and used to the speed and physicality of test rugby again.
The folk of the Taranaki will naturally be disappointed not to see some of the stars, particularly McCaw, on top of having Samoa field a weakened side.
But this is still a strong All Blacks team and certainly one that looks far too powerful for anything that Samoa can muster.
Anthony Boric will partner Ali Williams in the second row and Anthony Tuitavake has the left wing jersey vacated by Sivivatu.
The bench also includes Rudi Wulf who missed the recent trip to South Africa with injury.
Auckland utility Isaia Toeava holds his place in the squad and is also on the bench.
The All Blacks have also brought in Canterbury prop Ben Franks as a precautionary move to cover Afoa's injury.
Many of the first choice players have been rested since their August 17 win over the Boks in South Africa.
Twelve of the squad were released for provincial duties and the Samoan hit-out will certainly be invaluable to polish their act for the massive match that looms in Queensland where the Tri-Nations title is on the line and the All Blacks can also retain the Bledisloe Cup with victory there.
The All Blacks head to Brisbane on Sunday, giving themselves almost a week to prepare there for the title match with the Wallabies on September 13.
NEW ZEALAND: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Anthony Tuitavake, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo (c), 7 Adam Thomson, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock. Reserves: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Sione Lauaki, 19 Piri Weepu, 20 Stephen Donald, 21 Isaia Toeava, 22 Rudi Wulf.
