26 Aug 2013

Welcome break before ABs take on Pumas

6:53 am on 26 August 2013

The All Blacks have a welcome two week break before taking on Argentina in the next round of the Rugby Championship, during which time a number of players will be aiming to make injury comebacks.

Tom Taylor who starred on debut at first five on Saturday night in their 27-16 win over the Wallabies, needs three weeks off after sustaining a rib injury but the coach Steve Hansen is optimistic about getting a few players back for the Pumas match in a fortnight.

He says they are expecting Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett and Liam Messam to be fit and available given how they are tracking at the moment.

He says they trained on Friday at the captain's run and medical staff were very happy with their progress.

A substantial number of the squad will be released this week to play for their provinces.