All Blacks skipper Ardie Savea is facing up a lengthy stint on the sidelines after dislocating his shoulder in New Zealand's 29-24 loss to South Africa on Saturday night.
Savea was one of three All Blacks to suffer potentially serious injuries in the six-point defeat, which saw the Springboks take a 2-1 series lead to the fourth and final Test in Baltimore.
Quinn Tupaea [knee] and Luke Jacobson [elbow] are also heading home to New Zealand, while Josh Jacomb, Siale Lauaki, Saula Ma'u, Cortez Ratima (knee injury), Bradley Slater and Ofa Tu'ungafasi are not required in the United States.
But it is Savea who will garner the attention, with the skipper almost certain set to miss the Bledisloe Cup and, potentially even some of the All Blacks' closing Nations Championship games against England, Scotland and Wales.
Savea left the field midway through the first half of Saturday night's Test supported by All Blacks medical staff, having earlier scored his side's first two tries in a typically explosive performance.
The All Blacks then later confirmed his diagnosis, with Savea posting a picture of his arm in a sling to social media as he attended a "family lunch" in South Africa.
His teammates meanwhile left for the United States late on Saturday night following their loss at FNB Stadium in front of 85,000 fans, the All Blacks and Springboks on the same charter flight as they prepare to close out Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series with a money-spinning showdown in Baltimore.
New Zealand can still square the series and split, literally, the trophy with a win in the state of Maryland, but there was also a burning desire to have departed the Republic with a 2-1 series advantage and bragging rights on South African soil.
Level at 12-all at the break, New Zealand were first on the board in the second half following a brilliant 1-2 sequence from wingers Will Jordan and Leroy Carter. But after fly-half Ruben Love missed the conversion, the All Blacks almost immediately ceded the momentum when Carter missed a one-on-one tackle on Jesse Kriel, which allowed the Springboks centre to sprint away and score.
The hosts then used their scrum to build pressure and force New Zealand back inside their half, with Malcolm Marx's second-half five-pointer the result of a 20-metre lineout drive that came on the back of consecutive set piece penalties.
"Their set piece is pretty damn dominant and they get a gravy-train of penalties from it. I'm not going to say they're all legit, but we've got to change the perception for the officials as well so we get a fair rub of the green," All Blacks assistant coach Neil Barnes said before the team left for Baltimore.
"We've got to be solution-based here. They're good at what they do, and we've got to counter it. The rest of our game, it's tight, there's not a lot in it. We're not going to beat ourselves up too much, but it stinks. We're coming second to this crew and we tried bloody hard to get the right result for our country."
While the Springboks will want to close out a 3-1 series triumph with a win in the U.S., they then have to turnaround only a fortnight later and face the Wallabies in a one-off Test for the Mandela Plate in Perth.
Just how South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus approaches that Test - he may look to rest some of his frontline stars after five Tests in seven weeks - remains to be seen, but it is likely there will be some new faces given the brutal nature of the Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series.
And while the Bledisloe series begins two weeks' after the Wallabies-Springboks Test in Perth, it is highly unlikely Savea will play any part in either the Auckland or Sydney games given the standard recovery for a dislocated shoulder is between 12 and 16 weeks.
Jordie Barrett is likely the frontrunner to captain the All Blacks given Jacobson, who deputised for Savea after he was replaced on the weekend, is also on his way home to New Zealand through injury.