Rocked by another Wendell Sailor controversy, the NSW Waratahs conceded the home-ground advantage for next weekend's Super 14 sudden-death semi-final with a costly and painful 19-14 loss to the Hurricanes at Aussie Stadium.

Sailor's career is in jeopardy after it was announced just before kick-off that the dual international had been stood down from rugby indefinitely for an alleged serious breach of the ARU Code of Conduct.

The high-profile winger's sensational suspension forced a late reshuffle to the NSW backline and the result was a disjointed and clumsy performance that has the Waratahs's once-promising campaign in danger of completely unravelling.

The Waratahs now face the daunting prospect of almost certainly needing to win back-to-back sudden-death encounters in New Zealand to land an elusive first Super championship.

And they will probably need to achieve mission improbable without Sailor, who is now the subject of an ARU investigation after NSWRU chief executive Fraser Neill announced the 37-Test veteran had allegedly seriously breached the union's code of conduct several weeks ago.

The Waratahs only learned of the Sailor's situation on Friday night but already the rumour mill is in overdrive.

The Nine Network reported that the 31-year-old may have tested positive to recreational drugs, possibly cocaine, but was unable to substantiate its claims.

Testing positive to a banned substance carries a maximum suspension of two years.

Asked if the alleged breach was drugs-related, NSWRU chairman Arvid Petersen said: "We're not going to comment.

"We're under very strict confidentiality protocols and we have to maintain them."

The latest Sailor drama could not have come at a worse time for the Waratahs, who, because of last week's shock loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton, needed to beat the third-placed Hurricanes to secure a top-two finish and with it a home semi-final.

But what started out as a bad night only got worse for the Waratahs, who were on the back foot from the opening whistle.

The Hurricanes raced to a 12-0 lead after just 18 minutes through tries to winger Shannon Paku and prop John Schwalger before flanker Phil Waugh put NSW back within striking distance with a try after 28 minutes.

Fullback Peter Hewat landed the sideline conversion to cut the deficit to five points, only to gift a converted try to Hurricanes five-eighth Jimmy Gopperth when he had an attempted clearing kick charged down in the final minute of the first half.

The Hurricanes maintained their 19-7 advantage until winger Sam Norton-Knight gave the Waratahs renewed hope with a converted try in the 65th minute.

But, despite frenetically attacking the Hurricanes line for the tense final moments, the Waratahs were unable to pull off what would have been a brilliant comeback triumph and they now must conquer the Hurricanes in Wellington to reach the series finale for the second season in a row.

For Sailor, it's not the first time he has landed in strife since being lured from rugby league in 2002 on a contract believed to be worth in excess of $600,000 a season.

Last year, Sailor received a minor fine and a suspended sentence for being out late two nights before a Test in South Africa.

And earlier this season, the veteran of 37 Tests for the Wallabies and 45 Super matches for the Waratahs was outed for three matches for being drunk at Cape Town nightclub.

Neill indicated Sailor was devastated by the latest incident.

"We had various discussions with Wendell and kept in contact with him. I think everyone could imagine the state he's in at the moment," he said.

"We are concerned for Wendell but our primary concern for rugby and NSW rugby and Australian rugby."

Neill said as far as the NSWRU knew, the police were not involved in the matter.

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