Stephen Donald remains an injury worry for the All Blacks © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Sir Graham Henry | Luke McAlister

Tournaments/Tours: Rugby World Cup | Tri Nations

Teams: New Zealand

All Black fly-half candidates Luke McAlister and Stephen Donald have returned to training, prompting the selectors to delay naming their team until Wednesday ahead of Saturday's Tri-Nations opener against Australia at Eden Park.

Donald's prospects of playing the Bledisloe Cup Test were all but written off by head coach Graham Henry last week but the Waikato pivot - the injured Dan Carter's original understudy - worked his fragile hamstring without any apparent ill effects.

Back spasms prevented McAlister from playing club rugby for two weekends following his unsatisfactory performance in the No.10 jersey against Italy at Christchurch, but he returned to action in a likely Test backline during training.

Should the players fail to make full recoveries the All Blacks will have to consider playing scrum-half Piri Weepu or the uncapped Stephen Brett opposite Wallabies maestro Matt Giteau at Eden Park.

The All Blacks coaching staff were unavailable for comment but halfback Brendon Leonard articulated the benefit of having both Donald and McAlister back in the frame.

"I'd say the coaches would be pretty pleased," he said. "They were chopping and changing, and both had a decent run. They've both been there before, so I think they'd be pretty confident that whoever steps into that jersey will be able to do the job."

The Wallabies have also had their fair share of problems heading in to the game, with the ongoing wrangling surrounding Lote Tuqiri's sacking dominating the headlines. Australia also have to contend with the psychological burden of their abysmal Test record in Auckland, where they have not won since 1986.

With All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw returning as well, there is plenty to ponder for the away side. Hooker Stephen Moore has swatted aside any talk of distractions however, maintaining that the Tuqiri issue has not affected the squad.

"Not really. That's an issue between Lote and the ARU and RUPA as well," Moore said. "As far as the players go, we've got no real involvement in it and I don't have much interest in it. My focus is solely on the game.

"It's a great opportunity for us (but) with Richie coming back, he's obviously the barometer of their side and he's going to lift them a lot. They would have worked hard in the last few weeks and Eden Park's their spiritual home; they always play well there and they've got a great record there.

"It's more a proud record for them more than an obstacle for us. We've got a new chance to win there this weekend and that's all we're really focused on. It's certainly an intimidating ground to play at. It's similar to Loftus Versfeld or Ellis Park; the home crowd really get behind the team and they always play well there. We're going to have to play really well to win."