Rene Ranger's tilt at selection for the All Blacks end-of-year tour will be very tight.
The utility threequarter will miss Northland's next two provincial matches and may be battling to turn out on October 16-17, the weekend when the squad is announced for the five-test tour.
Ranger strained a hamstring playing for Northland against Counties Manukau in the latest round of the ITM Cup and limped out of the game in the first quarter.
"He's been in for us to assess him again and he is definitely out of the next two games," Northland coach Bryce Woodward said.
"We are not sure about the third one, when he might need to play to put his hand up for the All Blacks. We don't know, there is a bit of wait and see."
Ranger would rest this week, then begin mild exercise and work with the physiotherapists to gauge his readiness for a return for Northland.
While the All Blacks are announced in three weeks, they do not fly out until a week after that and play the Wallabies in Hong Kong a week later.
If the All Black selectors want Ranger, that extra time might be his saviour.
"It is not a tear but somewhere between a grade one and two strain," Woodward said.
Ranger had never suffered a hamstring and was uncertain how he sustained the injury.
"He remembers he jumped up for one of our short kickoffs and felt something. But he kept running because he wasn't sure whether he had done something. Then, after a chip kick, he stretched out to make a tackle and felt it."
Ranger, who turns 24 this week, was a surprise inclusion in the All Black squad this season and made his debut from the bench against Wales in Hamilton.
He stayed in the Tri-Nations squad when Zac Guildford was eased out, started on the left wing against the Springboks in Wellington and was a sub against the Wallabies in the latest test in Sydney.
Woodward said a number of his squad were damaged after the Counties match but he figured all, apart from Ranger, would recover for Saturday's match against Waikato in Whangarei.
All Black coach Graham Henry has lost Richard Kahui and Adam Thomson from the tour through injury.
But midfielder Luke McAlister remains in contention after being cleared of a broken jaw after North Harbour's weekend win against Manawatu.
Rene Ranger (centre). Photo / Getty Images
