Wallabies winger Dane Haylett-Petty will have the first major test of his biceps injury on Tuesday, as he vies for a Bledisloe return.
Haylett-Petty tore his muscle in Western Force training the week after the Super Rugby season ended, tackling teammate Ben McCalman, with the frustrating injury ruling him out of the Bledisloe opener.
Though defence coach Nathan Grey was confident of the outside back’s fitness on Monday, Haylett-Petty said he was yet to have the injury properly challenged in trianing.
“Not too sure yet (whether I’ll be fit),” he said.
“First real chance to test it out today so I'll do full contact today and then see how I'm going afterwards.”
Getting through the toughest session of the week would all but clear Haylett-Petty for the Dunedin Test, and the 28-year-old said he was optimistic of hos progress.
“I think at the moment it's a wait and see. If I get through today I'll get confidence,” he said.
“It's getting stronger every day so I'm really happy with the way it's coming along.”
Haylett-Petty said it wasn’t easy to watch on as the Wallabies went down 54-34 in the Sydney clash, but was proud of their ability to bring the margin back in the second half.
“It was tough but I think it was great to see the character of the boys to go down and fight their way back,” he said.
“We’ve got great character in this group and we know we can improve this week but really tough to watch on the sideline.”
Haylett-Petty would be in the mix to replace debutant Curtis Rona on the wing for the Dunedin encounter, should he make it through training.
Australia takes on New Zealand in the second Bledisloe on Saturday, kicking off at 5:35pm AEST LIVE on FOX SPORTS.
