Rugby: Boric in doubt as tight five crumbles

Anthony Boric. Photo / Getty Images

Lock Anthony Boric is the latest victim of an injury blight which has slowly dismantled the Blues' tight five resources.

If the 26-year-old does not recover from his ankle trouble, captain and hooker Keven Mealamu may be the only member of the foundation tight five available for Saturday's meeting with the Force at Eden Park.

Another test lock, Ali Williams, was felled pre-season with a torn Achilles tendon while senior props Tony Woodcock (neck) and John Afoa (back) have both been out in the past few weeks.

Coach Pat Lam was uncertain how many of his senior tight forwards would be fit for tomorrow's selection although Woodcock had resumed training.

"It is early days and we're hoping some of these boys will recover a bit over the next 48 hours," he said.

While Lam might struggle to assemble his tight five, he will have an equally difficult job culling some of his backline for this game where victory is non-negotiable if the Blues want to retain their slender hopes of making the playoffs.

Midfielder Benson Stanley has recovered from the concussion which saw Luke McAlister take his place in last week's loss to the Stormers.

"Every week there are selection headaches in the backs because we do have a lot of quality players there while Tom Chamberlain and Peter Saili will also be pushing hard for places in the loose forwards," the coach said.

Force flanker David Pocock is back playing after a frustrating five game break to heal a hand injury and was part of the side which beat the Highlanders last round. He expects a backlash from the Blues.

"We have a lot of young guys who are getting their first shot at this competition and we know that physically and tempo-wise, this game with the Blues will be massive," he said.

"On their day they can be near impossible to contain while their defence is massive and they use the ball so well on attack."

The match will pit the coaching skills of two former All Black No 8s, Lam and John Mitchell, against each other while former Waikato and All Black five-eighths David Hill will guide the Force backline.

"They have been going well for the last three weeks," Lam observed. "Getting players like Pocock, Richard Brown and Cameron Shepherd back has made a huge difference to their team. For us, this is it. It is the start of our finals week.

"There is pressure this week, there is a combination of fear and excitement. We all need to get in there and do what we need to do at this stage of the competition. We had a superb day's training so we hope to build on that."

The Force were on a roll, they had a strong captain in Nathan Sharpe, good set pieces, while backs like James O'Connor were extremely dangerous opponents. Coach Mitchell had been around a long time and he would have his side primed for the joust.

Lam had chats this week with all of his squad. "It is all about going through the checklists, talking through what works and what doesn't for each player and making sure we are all doing what is best for the team."