New Zealand centre Aaron Mauger insists he will be fit to face Australia on Saturday even though he is nursing a groin strain.
Mauger, revealed as a transfer target for Leicester Tigers this week, sat out training in Auckland as a precaution.
But the Canterbury star expects to recover in time to play in the Tri Nations encounter.
He said: "I just went through a hole and went to step off my right foot and felt a bit of tweak in my groin and didn’t want to carry on too much longer.
"The doctor said to pull the pin and hopefully it will be right.
"I didn’t want to stir it up too much. I haven’t had this injury for a while and, hopefully, I will be able to shake it off pretty quick."
Mauger, rested for the All Blacks’ last home game against South Africa, is in no mood to give up his place without a fight.
"I would like to play every week if I could," he said.
"That’s what I play the game for – to play games at the weekend. It’s hard if you train two weeks and get one game.
"It’s always pretty tough there. It’s a bit of a compromise there, but I would like to play every game."
Mauger will undergo a fitness test ahead of Saturday’s match at Eden Park.
The five-eighth returned to training on Thursday after sitting out Wednesday’s session and will be re-assessed on Friday after further treatment.
