Auckland and Blues utility back Isaia Toeava has been added to the growing list of injured All Blacks test rugby candidates.
Toeava will undergo surgery this week to relieve a niggling hip injury and is likely to be sidelined for four to six months.
That will sideline the 26-test veteran from the June tests against Ireland and Wales and the Tri-Nations although there is the possibility he will return for the year-ending All Blacks tour to Hong Kong and Europe.
"It is jamming up against a nerve and it's pretty painful," Toeava told The New Zealand Herald of a bone spur that dogged him through much of this year's Super 14 campaign.
"I've had cortisone (injections), but the pain keeps coming back. They say it will take about four to six months to heal, and while it's pretty disappointing, it's best I get it fixed now."
Toeava's unavailability only adds to the headaches for All Blacks coach Graham Henry, who names his first 26-man squad of the year on Sunday.
Second five-eighth is especially problematic given the knee ligament injury suffered by incumbent Ma'a Nonu, which will sideline him from the June tests.
