The All Blacks were dealt another significant blow on Monday when lock Keith Robinson was ruled out of the remainder of the Tri-Nations because of injury.
the second-row forward, who missed the All Blacks' first two matches of the tournament because of a back injury, sustained a calf injury during Waikato's NPC warm-up match against North Harbour on Friday.
The All Blacks hard-man joins star flanker Richie McCaw on the sidelines, with the latter withdrawing from the squad last week because of persistent head-aches.
But while Robinson failed to recover in time, concerns over Chiefs captain Jonno Gibbes have eased with the big flanker being cleared of the back injury that ruled him out of the match with the Springboks.
Meanwhile, New Zealand coach Graham Henry, said that there were no new injury concerns in the squad and he will name his team to take on the Wallabies in Sydney on Tuesday.