WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Fourth-choice flyhalf Colin Slade will likely start for New Zealand in Saturday’s Rugby Championships test against Australia after Dan Carter, Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett were all ruled out with injuries.

Carter was last week ruled out of the All Blacks’ matches against the Wallabies in Sydney last weekend and this week in Wellington with a calf muscle injury. His replacement Cruden and Barrett, who started last weekend’s match on the bench, were both injured during New Zealand’s 47-29 win.

Cruden will be sidelined for between two and six weeks with a knee injury, and Barrett is out for at least a week with a calf muscle strain.

Slade is now set to play his 11th test and his first since the group stages of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Uncapped Crusaders flyhalf Tom Taylor will likely replace Barrett on the All Blacks’ bench.

The series of injuries to flyhalves has echoes of the 2011 World Cup when New Zealand lost Carter and Slade to groin strains during the preliminary stages. They then lost Cruden with a knee injury during the final against France, leaving fourth-string flyhalf Stephen Donald to kick the second-half penalty goal that gave the All Blacks an 8-7 win over France.

The All Blacks’ coaching staff called Slade and Taylor into their squad on Sunday when they realized both Cruden and Barrett were under injury clouds. They received the results on Tuesday morning of scans which revealed the seriousness of both players’ injuries.

Lock Luke Romano has also been ruled out of the remainder of the Rugby Championships with a groin injury. His place in the All Blacks’ starting 15 will likely be taken by Brodie Rettalick while one of Jeremy Thrush, Luke Whitelock or Brad Shields could be added to the bench to cover lock.

Head coach Steve Hansen said Romano had torn his right abductor tendon and was unlikely to play again before the All Blacks’ tour to Britain in November.

“It’s obviously hugely disappointing for Luke but he is a strong character and is already planning his rehab with our medical staff,” Hansen said. “We hopefully will have Beauden ready to prepare for the Argentina test, while Aaron will start his knee rehabilitation later this week, which will give us a better indication of when he will be back playing.

“It’s an exciting time for the replacement players Tom Taylor and Colin Slade and it’s also a challenge now for the rest of the team to make their entry into the side as seamless as possible.”