All Blacks lock Sam Whitelock is a doubt for the Rugby Championship opener against Argentina after playing through an Achilles injury in the Super Rugby Pacific final, coach Ian Foster said.
The veteran second row forward put in a man-of-the-match performance in his final game for the Canterbury Crusaders as they beat the Waikato Chiefs to win the title last weekend and Foster said he was "pretty sore."
"Obviously, he played during that recovery period, so we just have to see how he transitions in the next week or two," Foster said. "But he's not right to train today so we have just got to deal with what we've got now."
New Zealand face the Pumas on July 8 before hosting the Springboks in their second match in the Test competition.
Foster selected a 36-man squad for the Rugby Championship two weeks ago with the addition of uncapped outside-back Shaun Stevenson as injury cover for winger Mark Talea. Another winger, Leicester Fainga'anuku, has a calf problem so Stevenson is highly likely to travel to Argentina.
There won't be a replacement for center Anton Lienert-Brown, who was hit with a ban for a dangerous tackle during the Super Rugby final.
