The All Blacks centre Conrad Smith is set to miss at least the first two tests of the rugby championship after having surgery to repair a detached retina.
Following the Hurricanes final Super rugby match against the Chiefs, Smith last week had two operations on his left eye.
The Hurricanes team doctor Ian Murphy says both operations went well but Smith will be unable to train for six weeks.
That means he's likely to miss the first two tests against Australia in the new four nations competition, with the All Blacks due to play the Wallabies in Sydney on August 18th and again a week later in Auckland.
It creates further issues for the All Black selectors with fellow midfielder Sonny Bill Williams off to Japan.
