All Blacks: Carter may miss Rugby Championship

Dan Carter looks on during a New Zealand All Blacks training session today. Photo / Getty Images

Dan Carter may not be seen in this year's Rugby Championship.

The All Blacks first-five has been out since he fractured his leg while playing for the Crusaders in last month's Super Rugby final loss to the Waratahs in Sydney.

In Carter's absence, Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett have filled-in with aplomb as the All Blacks have moved to the top of the standings in the four-team competition.

Carter will miss this Saturday's contest against South Africa in Wellington but it was thought the 100-test veteran would be available for the All Blacks' trip to Argentina and South Africa later this month.

But All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster said that may not be the case and a decision will be made around Carter in a week or so, which could include a rare ITM Cup appearance for Canterbury.

"Dan's tracking really well and I doubt we'll see him in the Rugby Championship," Foster said today. "But he's on track but we'll see what happens in the next week or two. But he'll certainly be coming back to play some rugby soon at some stage. So it's just a matter of how we integrate him through. Whether it's through the ITM Cup or whether it's through us.

"So we've got some decisions to make. So we are probably at least a week away from making that decision yet. But he's certainly at the running stage; controlled running. We've just started to introduce a little bit of contact on a controlled basis ... So there's little things like that, so he's ticking the boxes."

Another first-five who is ticking the boxes is Cruden who missed last Saturday's victory over Argentina in Napier as he nursed a sore pectoral.

"I think Aaron's on track," Foster said. "He got through a good session today and looked good. He's doing a little more testing as we go on through the week but he's certainly on track, which is good news for us."

With Carter and Cruden out, Barrett steered the ship against the Pumas and made a good fist of his maiden appearance in the No 10 jersey for the All Blacks. If Cruden is passed fit he seems likely to return against South Africa on Saturday.

One conundrum for the All Blacks coaching staff this week is deciding on their locking combination and loose forward unit with second-rower Sam Whitelock (ribs) and flanker Liam Messam (quad) both out for three to four weeks.

Wellington lock Jeremy Thrush seems likely to start alongside Brodie Retallick, while Steven Luatua could come in on the side of the scrum or Sam Cane and Richie McCaw could both play with Kieran Read at No 8.

"We've got a plan and everyone gets dings in this championship," Foster said. "So it's all about the squad and we believe the guys who will come in are well prepared, and again, they've trained well and they're pretty excited. But there's just a couple of things we need to sort out before Thursday this week with that."

South Africa will name their team tomorrow, while the All Blacks will confirm their squad on Thursday.