The Wallabies will be forced into yet another reshuffle this weekend but their Kiwi neighbours are preparing for the Bledisloe Cup encounter without their head coach.
Wallaby wing Digb Ioane will miss the battle with the World Champions in Brisbane after failing to recover from a knee injury, while All Blacks boss Steve Hansen is spending time with his seriously ill father.
Ioane, who has been one of his country’s most impressive performers over the past two seasons, initially suffered the setback in the 31-8 defeat to South Africa a fortnight ago but he recovered in time to face Argentina a week later.
The 27-year-old scored the winning try against the Pumas in Rosario before the problem flared up on the flight back from South America.
Ioane’s absence is a major blow for the Lions’ next opponents, especially when you consider the other major names they will be without at the Suncorp Stadium.
Captain James Horwill and stand-in skippers David Pocock and Will Genia are all unavailable, as are the likes of Quade Cooper, James O’Connor and Ben McCallman.
There is at least some consolation in the fact that Ioane is expected to be fit in time for next month’s tour of Europe when the Wallabies face four back-to-back Tests against France, England, Italy and Wales.
As for the in-form All Blacks, their quest for a 17th successive win has been hampered by Hansen’s need to be at his dad’s bedside.
Des Hansen is seriously ill in Christchurch and his son has handed the coaching duties to assistantsIan Foster and Brian McLean.
"Steve's dad is really ill and he's spending a lot of time with his family, but he's still heavily involved in the planning," said Foster.
"We'll just carry on as normal. We've got good structures and good people in the team and we'll keep trucking along.
"We're all feeling for him but the best thing we can do for him now is to give him time with his family and for us to do a very good job of preparing for what is going to be a really exciting Test match for us."
