NSW Waratahs playmaker Kurtley Beale will have a fitness test on Friday to determine if he plays in this weekend’s Super Rugby semi-final against the Highlanders in Sydney.
Beale hasn’t trained with the side this week due to a quadriceps injury.
He was restricted to light duties on Thursday, with the No.12 having a brief jog while coach Michael Cheika pushed the Waratahs through a tough session at Moore Park.
The injury forced Beale out of the final regular-season game against Queensland a fortnight ago, but halfback Nick Phipps expected him to play.
“We’re all confident that he will be playing. We’ve definitely got our contingency plan if worse comes to worse, but I think at the moment KB is right to play,” Phipps said.
“We’ll see how he goes tomorrow, he’s got another fitness test and then we’ll see what happens.”
Winger Rob Horne looks to have overcome a calf injury, with the speedster training strongly.
Matt Carraro, who replaced Beale at short notice against the Reds, ran most of the ballwork session at inside centre with Horne also having a run there.
Phipps is tipping an expansive game against arguably the most-exciting team in Super Rugby.
“They are a bit like us, they like to throw the ball around and have a crack and it should be entertaining for the crowd to come and watch,” he said.