Christian Cullen will join the New Zealand squad for training next week following injury but remains a doubt for thecombined Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup match against Australia on August 11th.
The fullback's run of 51 tests in a row was halted when he had knee surgery last month.
All Black doctor John Mayhew said: "Cullen is progressing well, but the selectors want to see him play a game before any decisions are made."
Cullen is due to play for Wellington in national provincial championship warm-up matches against Taranaki on Saturday or Otago the week beforethe test.
"It could be that he won't be ready for Dunedin, but maybe for the Auckland match (against South Africa on August 25)," Mayhew said.
Lock Mark Cooksley, however, injured hours before being named in the All Black team to face Samoa six weeks ago, looks certain to play.
The Waikato and Chiefs forward will also be at the All Blacks training camp at Burnham near Christchurch next week.
-Reuters