Blues fullback Stephen Perofeta faces an uphill battle to earn All Blacks selection for the Rugby World Cup after suffering another "significant" shoulder injury.
Perofeta picked up the knock in the first half of their Super Rugby Pacific win over the NSW Waratahs at Eden Park.
Alongside prop Nepo Laulala, the Blues will be sweating on the pair's fitness as the side push for a home playoff spot.
Coach Leon MacDonald revealed the extent of the injury, and admits the early signs suggest both could be out of action for a while.
"They both look relatively significant," MacDonald said. "Stephy felt his shoulder move a little bit, so we need to get a scan on that and see the extent of the damage.
"I think he's done something to that shoulder in the past. We'll be sweating on that."
With the World Cup less than six months away, Perofeta is in a race against time to earn favour with All Blacks coach Ian Foster.
Especially with Blues teammate Beauden Barrett and Chiefs star Damian McKenzie seemingly vying for the same utility spot.
But at least for the Blues, MacDonald will take confidence in the performance of Perofeta's replacement, Zarn Sullivan.
Sullivan scored two tries in a starring performance from the bench, with the Waratahs defence unable to cope with the hard-running substitute.
MacDonald praised the performance of the game-changing fullback.
"He's just using everything that he's got at the moment," he said. "He straightened the attack really well from his first carry.
"He's hard to tackle, and his left boot of his is priceless and turning teams around or applying pressure with it.
"He's also pretty brutal with his defence, really happy with the impact he had off the bench, and he gave us a bit of direction.
"His hard running on the edges kickstarted our attack at times, and we were able to play off the back of it.
"I thought Zarn's performance was outstanding, we got two quality fullbacks, and we still got Jacob [Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens] as well. Fingers crossed it's not too serious for Stevie."
