Wallabies centre Kurtley Beale is expected to overcome a rib injury and play for the NSW Waratahs against the Jaguares on Sunday (AEDT), but the franchise is fast running out of fit scrumhalves.
Beale suffered his injury in the first half of last week's Super Rugby draw with the Sharks in Durban and didn't play after the break.
While assistant coach Simon Cron expects Beale to line up in Buenos Aires this weekend, he revealed scrumhalf Nick Duffy had arrived in Argentina to boost the Tahs' dwindling stocks in that crucial position.
First-choice No.9 Nick Phipps didn't make the two-match international trip because of a calf injury he suffered in the pre-season.
Last week's starter Jake Gordon, the only other contracted No. 9 on the Tahs' books, suffered a head knock in Durban.
While Gordon should be right to play against the Jaguares providing he passes the return-to-play protocols, his backup last weekend Mitch Short suffered a small ACL tear.
Former Force player Short, who scored a vital late try against the Sharks, has returned home.
Duffy, who plays for Sydney club Northern Suburbs and was part of the Sydney Rays' NRC squad, was an Australian schoolboys representative in 2014.
Cron said Beale ran at Tuesday's training session.
"I think he'll be fine, from what I'm looking at, so I'd expect him to be playing," Cron said.
He was similarly optimistic about Gordon.
"He got through all training on Tuesday so he's looking pretty good from what I can see," Cron said.
If Gordon is not passed fit and Duffy has to start, Cron said flanker Will Miller would probably be the backup scrumhalf ahead of flyhalf Bernard Foley, who Tahs coach Daryl Gibson previously said could get the job.
Cron revealed NSW would look to play a structured game to try and starve the Jaguares of broken play opportunities, one of their major attack modes.
"The Jaguares love unstructured ball ... they love an offload," Cron said.
"For us, the big thing for us against a team like them is to play structure, to build pressure.
"Last week against the Sharks, we probably let the pressure valve off at times."
The Waratahs face the Jaguares in Buenos Aires on Sunday, kicking off at 8:30am AEDT, broadcast LIVE on FOX SPORTS.
