All Blacks halfbacks Aaron Smith (bereavement leave) and Folau Fakatava (illness) are set to be back for the Waratahs game on Friday night, while electric winger Jona Nareki is also understood to be in line for a long-awaited comeback.
The Highlanders will possibly have a player heading in the opposite direction, however, as luckless centre Josh Timu appeared to cop yet another injury just a few minutes into his comeback off the bench in the 30-17 loss to the Force on Saturday night.
It was a first win for the Force over the Highlanders in nearly a decade, and it left coach Clarke Dermody in a rather frustrated mood.
"That was a rollercoaster, wasn’t it?" he told the Otago Daily Times from Perth.
"It was frustrating, really. Penalties in the first half really hurt us, and we lost players to the sin bin, so discipline really let the Force into the game.
"The second half was just about execution. We had two over the line and that would have meant scoreboard pressure on the Force.
"That was probably one of our worst performances in terms of accuracy. I know the boys are disappointed.
"We’ve got a short turnaround now, heading to Sydney, and it’s going to be a big game against the Waratahs."
Saturday’s game featured five yellow cards and a whole lot of whistle from referee Nic Berry.
Dermody had no issue with the man in the middle, instead lamenting his own team’s infringements.
"I thought we were making poor decisions.
"Nic was pretty harsh but he was accurate, and we were offside continuously in that first 20 or 30 minutes, and as soon as we started giving away penalties inside our own 22m, it becomes an easy decision for a referee."
There was a debut for promising Highlanders halfback Nathan Hastie in Perth.
Oddly, Hastie was not actually playing behind the scrum, but required to loiter on the wing as the Highlanders lost Timu to what looked like an ankle complaint, so Sam Gilbert moved to centre and Connor Garden-Bachop to fullback.
Dermody pointed out it was the same scenario encountered by his old Southland mate, Jimmy Cowan, who made his Highlanders debut 20 years ago as a replacement winger, not the fine halfback he would become.
The Highlanders remain seventh in Super Rugby Pacific but just two points separate the five teams battling for the final three playoff spots.
An 11-point gap separates the fifth-placed team, the Blues, from the field.
The Blues thumped the Waratahs 55-21 earlier on Saturday.
