New Zealand sweating on injury concerns ahead of first test against Springboks

New Zealand coach Dave Rennie is sweating over the fitness of key fullback Damian McKenzie as the All Blacks prepare for their four-test series against world champions South Africa. McKenzie has been sidelined with an ankle problem, forcing him to miss the recent 50-19 victory over the Bulls in Pretoria.

However, there is more positive news regarding wing Will Jordan, who has been dealing with a back issue, and scrumhalf Cam Roigard, who has a calf complaint. Both players have been out for a month but have participated in some training sessions. Rennie expressed confidence that they will be fit for the series opener on August 22, provided they complete a full week of training.

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We are probably less confident about Damian, but still think he has a good chance to play. Hopefully he can train well on Tuesday.

"We are probably less confident about Damian, but still think he has a good chance to play. Hopefully he can train well on Tuesday," Rennie told reporters after the Bulls game. The team also reported minor injuries to prop Xavier Numia (Achilles) and scrumhalf Cortez Ratima (knee) from the Bulls match.

Rennie was pleased with the performance against the Bulls, which has provided selection headaches for the upcoming tests. He noted that players like Pete Lakai and Anton Segner impressed, putting pressure on established starters. However, he stressed the need for the team to significantly increase their intensity and quality to compete with the Springboks, acknowledging the "three, four, five-fold" increase in challenge they will face.

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What we know is that the intensity level and the quality that we are going to come up against next week is three, four, five-fold. But we've played reasonably well on tour and we know we need to up the ante.