Luatua gets thumbs up as Squire gets injured

Loose forwards keep dropping and as they do, the importance of Blues loose forward Steven Luatua to the All Blacks keeps climbing.

In the space of two weeks, the All Blacks have seen Jerome Kaino, Kieran Read and Liam Squire becoming in doubt to be fit for the first test against the British and Irish Lions.

Kaino was forced to have knee surgery on a torn meniscus which has left him with a four-to-six week recovery. Maybe he will be fit in time but he will lack game conditioning.

Read has a broken thumb which is expected to take six weeks to heal and again, he's somewhere between a possible and probable starter in the first test on June 24.

In an almost freakish coincidence, Liam Squire suffered the same injury as Read against the same team on the same ground one week later.

And like Read, Squire is looking at a six-week recovery which puts him in much the same boat: he's likely to be fit by the time of the first test but with no recent game time behind him.

“Liam Squire has broken a thumb, so he will be on the plane home,” Highlanders coach Tony Brown said after his side's miraculous comefrom-behind 45-41 victory in Bloemfontein yesterday.

“With Kieran Read out, he was probably next cab off the rank. But hopefully both Kieran and Jerome can get back in time for the Lions.”

The odds are in favour of Kaino and Read both recovering and doing enough to convince All Blacks coach Steve Hansen they can deliver.

But there is no guarantee of that and with Squire also racing the clock, the All Blacks have to be prepared for the worst, which means Luatua will be in their plans for the series.

If he was, at best, a long shot to be involved against the Lions when he announced in March that he was joining Bristol this year, he's now odds-on to be involved. It wouldn't even be that much of a stretch now to see him starting at blindside against the Lions in the first test.

His stocks have risen to that point partly because of the injuries but also, and more significantly, because he's been playing better than ever.

Probably the only thing separating Luatua and Squire is the former's decision to sign with Bristol. If it had come down to a choice between one of them, Squire would most likely have been picked given he's committed his longer-term future.

Luatua, should he be needed, will give the All Blacks a genuine jumping option in the lineout. He'll also bring an improved physical presence and work rate and, if everyone is honest, Luatua has been in better form so far in Super Rugby than Kaino.

International teams around the world would love to scrape the barrel and pull out an athlete such as Luatua. The All Blacks won't be happy about Squire's injury but nor will they be unduly worried.