Blue-less: What the North Island team could look like if the Blues can't leave Auckland

As anticipation heightens for next week's North vs South clash, the prospect of Blues players taking part in the match remains unclear amid Auckland's resurgence of Covid-19 cases.

Alert level three restrictions are currently in place in The City of Sails, where a fresh outbreak of community transmission was announced last week.

Those restrictions forced the cancellation of last Sunday's much-hyped Super Rugby Aotearoa finale between the Blues and Crusaders, which was set to take place in front of a sold-out Eden Park.

The rugby-related implications of Auckland's restrictions stretch further than just that game, though.

It has brought into question the feasibility of the North vs South game, which is scheduled to take place at Eden Park next Saturday.

The level three restrictions will remain in place until August 26, just three days before the historic inter-island derby kicks-off.

Until then, very few people can leave or enter Auckland, while those in the city will remain largely confined to the four walls of their own homes.

The ramifications regarding the availability of players who were named in the North and South squads on Tuesday but are stuck in Auckland for the time being are, therefore, potentially disastrous.

The two 28-man squads are set to assemble in Wellington on Monday to prepare for the match, with New Zealand Rugby announcing a contingency plan earlier this week that will see the Kiwi capital host the fixture if Auckland is locked down beyond August 26.

Unless they are granted exemption to leave Auckland from the Ministry of Health, those teams will be devoid of the 13 Blues players who were named in the North and South squads.

That leaves the North Island in a precarious position, as 11 of their 28 players - Kurt Eklund, Karl Tu’inukuafe, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Patrick Tuipulotu, Akira Ioane, Dalton Papalii, Hoskins Sotutu, Beauden Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Caleb Clarke and Mark Telea - ply their trade for the Auckland franchise.

A further two players - Alex Hodgman and Finlay Christie - have been named in the South Island team, but their involvement in the lead-up to what is effectively an All Blacks trial is just as uncertain as it is for their teammates aligned with the North.

Should there be an extension to the level three restrictions currently imposed in Auckland, then the likelihood of those 13 players taking part in the occasion could well be diminished.

That would be a significant blow to the North's chances of victory as national bragging rights go on the line, as they would then be without their captain - Tuipulotu - and a total of seven All Blacks.

It would also amplify what already looms as a pressing issue of how the aforementioned players will be replaced in their respective squads.

For the North Island, the two hardest hit areas of their squad would come in the loose forwards and at first-five.

Through Papalii, Sotutu and Akira Ioane, the Blues make up 60 percent of the North's back row contingent, with only Ardie Savea (Hurricanes) and Lachlan Boshier (Chiefs) not part of the Auckland team.

That alone leaves three gaps to fill in the squad, but there are a raft of contenders who were deemed unlucky not to have gained selection and would more than hold their own in the squad.

Highlanders No. 8 Marino Mikaele-Tu'u was among the form loose forwards of Super Rugby Aotearoa, and would act as a like-for-like replacement for both Ioane and Sotutu.

Capable of covering every loose forward position, two-test Chiefs star Luke Jacobson could also warrant a call-up despite having very limited playing time throughout the Super Rugby campaign due to injury.

If the selectors felt the need to add a further replacement to maintain the balance of the squad they originally picked, then they could do much worse than to select rising Hurricanes star Du'Plessis Kirifi, who was a constant presence for the Wellingtonians.

Beauden Barrett, meanwhile, was named as the North's only first-five, with fullbacks Damian McKenzie and Mitch Hunt able to provide cover there if required.