Another NSW Waratahs prop has gone down injured and captain Phil Waugh is unlikely to train before the eve of Friday's crucial Super 14 clash with the Blues in Auckland.

Waugh's Achilles tendon strain will force the Waratahs to travel with an extra man when they depart for New Zealand on Wednesday.

And that could become 24 men if Al Baxter's replacement at tighthead prop, Dan Palmer, can't overcome a nasty virus which has laid him low.

Baxter was ruled out for a month on Sunday after re-injuring a calf muscle, while several other battered Waratahs, including key forwards Wycliff Palu, Dean Mumm and Benn Robinson, sat out training on Monday.

"(Waugh) can't really train for the first couple of days so we'll just have to see how it pulls up by the captain's run (on Thursday)," Hickey told reporters on Monday.

"We've got Ben Mowen who could start at openside (flanker) and we used him on Saturday when Phil came off so that's probably our main option."

Hickey said replacement hooker Damien Fitzpatrick and Beau Robinson could also come into calculations as Waugh's replacement, if needed, in the No.7 jersey.

Palmer's illness comes at a bad time for NSW with Baxter and Matt Dunning sidelined, but Wallaby tourist Sekope Kepu will be available to play his first Super 14 game of the year.

Loosehead Robinson highlighted the challenge that would await the undermanned Waratahs front row.

"They are probably the number one scrummaging side, in our opinion, in the Super 14 at the moment so it's definitely going to ... be our grand final in the front rows," Robinson said.

Hickey said he was hopeful of not having to leave Palmer at home.

"We'd hope not but we've had to send him home, he's pretty crook, he's got a bit of a viral infection," Hickey said.

"Sometimes these things can hang around for 48 hours and we've got to be on a plane by Wednesday so we're just a bit unsure at this stage."

The injury concerns allowed Hickey to deflect questions about selection as he mulls over how to react to his side's two straight losses.

But the coach has abandoned his earlier unconditional support of Kurtley Beale starting at five-eighth after some inconsistent performances.

"We're reviewing all those selections and it's the same every week, when you sit down you have a look at the performances of all the players and it's a little bit harder this week because of the number of players who are carrying injuries and aren't able to train with us," he said.

"It's not just Kurtley's selection that comes under the microscope, it's all the players."

Hickey said his side's game was 90 per cent "sound", and no one player was to blame for the other 10.

"When you go through and analyse those errors, it was only one error from 10 players, it's not one player who's making five or six errors in a game," he said.

"They're things that you work on constantly at training, catch and pass and those sorts of things.

"It's an awareness thing and as much as anything it's individual players taking responsibility."

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