All Blacks: Injuries open cracks in team

Kieran Read left the field with an ankle injury. Photo / Getty Images

Medical assessments today may alter the All Black squad before it starts the World Cup.

Injuries to loose forwards Kieran Read and Adam Thomson have been a complication after the side's 25-20 loss to the Wallabies.

Thomson, especially, was feeling very sore after hyper-extending his elbow and there were whispers about Read being out of action for weeks with his high ankle damage.

He has played only one full test since the end of the Super 15 series and a further absence may blunt his tournament involvement.

If Thomson is also incapacitated for some time, the selectors will have to weigh the merits of keeping injured players in the squad rather than calling for fresh fit replacements.

Those issues will give the coaches and the medical staff plenty to chew on as they count down towards the team assembly at the weekend.

It tops off a weekend when the last dress-rehearsal for the World Cup hit another road bump in Brisbane. The team got a first-half lesson in urgency and it was not until they got to the dressing-sheds that they received and then implemented fresh instructions.

It was strangely curious watching their listless start and transformation before they succumbed in the final stretch.

That does not happen to strong sides - not ones who have gained the impetus, put their foes in the choke-hold and sense victory.

Now we have to ask what other contenders sense about the All Blacks.