All Blacks: Unlucky 13 - filling a central role

(L-R) Isaia Toeava, Mils Muliaina, Tamati Ellison and Robert Fruean are all contenders for the position left vacant by Conrad Smith. Photos / Getty Images

Step up someone, anyone in form who wears the No 13 jersey.

Those inquiries will lead inspections from the All Black selectors in the next few weeks as they sift through remedies for their centre crisis in their Tri-Nations campaign.

Incumbent Conrad Smith has damaged a hamstring and is a very doubtful starter for the next test on September 12 against the Springboks in Hamilton.

Fellow midfielder Luke McAlister broke his cheekbone in a second ugly collision during Saturday's jangling 19-18 Bledisloe Cup triumph against the Wallabies in Sydney.

That injury will remove him from all rugby for some time but Ma'a Nonu can slot back in quickly at second five-eighths for the All Blacks.

The problem will be at centre.

Options are limited this season because the talented Richard Kahui was forced to have surgery to repair a shoulder injury which had troubled him throughout the Super 14 series.

At a push the All Blacks could juggle things within their squad to manufacture a solution. Mils Muliaina could move up to centre as he has done in other similar crises while Cory Jane or someone else could play at fullback.

Another alternative could be to pick Stephen Donald in midfield and push Nonu out a place.

Anthony Tuitavake was taken on the All Blacks' last end-of-year tour where he was picked as centre against Munster. He has fallen from favour this year and appears to be better served in a roving commission on the wing.

That leaves the main centre contenders as Isaia Toeava and Tamati Ellison, who have both been part of the All Black squad this season.

Toeava started two of the June internationals but then dropped out because of a stress fracture in his foot but has resumed provincial rugby for Auckland, while Ellison travelled to South Africa and Sydney with the squad but could not crack a game.

In the Ranfurly Shield challenge on Saturday, Toeava's handling let him down at a crucial stage and he still appears to have those moments of uncertainty which blight his performance. This is his fifth year with theAll Blacks and soon there must be a limit to the selectors' perseverance.

Ellison is a utility and that might be his problem. He may be better suited to time on the bench than a starting role for the All Blacks.

A wildcard could be Robert Fruean.

The 20-year-old comes with huge raps and the national selectors did choose him in the Juniors this season. Two years ago he was the best player at the international under-19 tournament then last year he was recovering from surgery to repair a damaged heart valve after he caught rheumatic fever.

If Nonu is released for Wellington's Ranfurly Shield defence this weekend, there is likely to be the chance of seeing how his midfield partnership with Fruean works against Canterbury. That scrutiny could offer one solution to the All Blacks' midfield mishaps.