Victor Vito has his fingers crossed that a final chance to impress the All Blacks rugby selectors hasn't passed him by.
Should the Hurricanes and the Crusaders both lose their Super 14 matches tomorrow it will be the last chance for players to impress the selectors before the All Blacks squad to play Ireland and Wales next month are announced.
For Hurricanes blindside flanker Vito, all his cards may have already been dealt after he injured his calf muscle at training a week ago, ruling him out of their comeback victory over the Reds and their virtual quarterfinal against the Waratahs in Sydney tomorrow night.
But the standout sevens player has certainly left his mark on the 2010 season and has been touted as a possible All Black after impressing with his power, speed and free-flowing playing style.
All Blacks forwards coach Steve Hansen said in April that Vito had performed well under Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper and had carried out all the tasks assigned to him.
"He's been effective in the lineout and he's been a good ball carrier and he's getting more and more consistent across the board. It doesn't matter whether he's playing six or eight, they're pretty interchangeable," Hansen said.
The 1.92m, 109kg powerhouse said it took him a season with the Hurricanes to become comfortable with the high-level 15s form of the game, but his experience playing international sevens had translated well this season, especially with the new rules at the breakdown.
"Playing sevens definitely helped me a lot with the new version of the game with the new rules. Games are a lot more open, which does suit a sevens style," Vito said.
But Vito, 23, is still hopeful of playing a Super 14 semifinal and is not thinking about All Blacks selection just yet.
"It's something that I've heard going around but at the same time my main objective is to be good with the Hurricanes first and everything else that comes after that will hopefully take care of itself.
"I'm not too worried about that at the moment, I've just got one job to do at the moment," he said.
Vito played nine Super 14 matches in his debut season in 2009 and was later named Wellington player of the year.
He made his Air NZ Cup debut with Wellington against Waikato in 2006 and made six appearances off the bench, but spent most of 2007 sidelined with a shoulder injury.
In 2006 he captained New Zealand at the under-19 World Cup and was also nominated as the world under-19 player of the year.
Cooper said it was tempting to unleash Vito tomorrow, but he was still not 100 percent recovered.
"I don't think it's in the best interests of him or the team," Cooper said.
Vito said rehab for his strained calf muscle was going well and all signs pointed to him being fit to play next week if the Hurricanes made the semifinals, with a trip to South Africa appearing most likely.
