Rugby: Canes ready for battle without battered Barrett

The Hurricanes are preparing to play without All Black star pivot Beauden Barrett.

The first five-eighths has a knee injury, which isn't thought to be serious, but he could be sidelined for a few weeks after he took a knock to the joint during Saturday's 29-23 win over the Crusaders at Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

Barrett was sent for scans yesterday and the results are likely to be known today. But if he is ruled out for any length of time, utility back James Marshall will step in to wear the No10 jumper.

"James has done a good job for us and he's ready to go. He's had a lot of game time this year and he'll slot in there, we've got no worry about that," Hurricanes assistant coach Clark Laidlaw said.

Wider training group member Otere Black will also run with the squad this week after he was whisked back from Australia, where he had been playing for the New Zealand under-20s.

"He's ready to play if we need him," Laidlaw said of the Manawatu pivot.

Black could stay with the Hurricanes for longer if Barrett's injury turns out to be serious, although that would conflict with next month's World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Italy.

"That would be a decision we'd have to make as a group," Laidlaw said.

"Obviously Otere is under 20 and he'll go with the under-20s if the news is good with Beaudy and he's good to go in a couple of weeks or a week.

"We'd like [Black] to go with the under-20s because that's a big deal for these boys, but then the chance to play for the Hurricanes at the back end of Super Rugby is a big deal too, so we'll just have to wait and see."

Saturday's match against the Sharks shapes as a game where the Hurricanes would be unlikely to risk Barrett if he was iffy.

Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd has tried to use matches against South African or Australian opposition to rest his All Blacks for their mandatory weeks off and skipping a game through injury also counts towards a player's two required rests. Barrett has sat out only one game this year.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have secured the services of outside backs Nehe Milner-Skudder and Matt Proctor until the end of 2017.

Both players look set to be part of the backline of the future for the Hurricanes with Milner-Skudder impressing at fullback this season, while Proctor has had to bide his time behind a host of All Blacks at the franchise.

With Conrad Smith set to depart at the end of the year, Proctor could potentially be his successor at centre. But Laidlaw said Proctor needed to work on his defence.