The ACT Brumbies have been without "one of the world's best players" in Matt Toomua for "six of the last eight games" and they're confident utility Robbie Coleman can get the job done at inside centre against the Pretoria Bulls.
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Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham says their season is "on the line" going into the final three rounds, while captain Stephen Moore says the return of Wallabies prop Scott Sio from a knee injury will be a "massive boost".
Sio's return sees Allan Alaalatoa drop back to the bench, with Jean-Pierre Smith falling out of the 23. Outside back Nigel Ah Wong comes onto the bench in place of Toomua.
Toomua (ankle) has played just 46 minutes of football in the last eight weeks, with Christian Lealiifano taking over the No.10 jersey and Coleman coming into the centres.
The ankle forced Toomua off after 23 minutes against the Auckland Blues on April 10 and then he reinjured it in his comeback game against the Johannesburg Lions two weeks ago.
He still looked proppy on it when the team photo was taken at the captain's run on Thursday.
Brumbies captain Stephen Moore said they'd been able to adapt to the Wallabies playmaker's absence and would continue to do so.
"[Sio's return is] a massive boost, we've really missed him over the time he's been injured," Moore said.
"We've played without [Toomua] for a while now [and] Robbie Coleman's done a fantastic job at 12 for us.
"Christian, as well filling at 10, has done a really good job, so we're confident with the combination we've got.
"We've been without him for six of the last eight games so we've had a lot of time for the other guys to play plenty of footy there so I don't imagine it will be too much of a disruption."
They might have to keep waiting for the return of Toomua, with Larkham labelling him just a "50-50" chance of returning to take on the Western Force in Perth next weekend.
Larkham said every game was like a grand final for the Brumbies.
They need to win all three of their remaining games to ensure they make the Super Rugby finals.
The Brumbies are currently sixth, just two points ahead of seventh-placed Lions and three in front of the Bulls.
Larkham said even the Canterbury Crusaders (ninth, 31), who the Brumbies play in the final round, were a chance to make the play-offs.
But they could also still finish top of the Australian conference, with the NSW Waratahs (41) embarking on their South Africa tour over the next two weeks.
"[Toomua was] not as close as we would have liked [to playing against the Bulls]," Larkham said.
"If he was close we certainly would have been pushing that because our season is on the line at the moment.
"He's obviously come back from South Africa and the flight probably hurt him a little bit.
"He did all his rehab last week, but just wasn't good enough this week. We're hoping for next week, but at this stage he's still a 50-50 proposition.
"Robbie's stepped into the inside centre position and did a fantastic job ... but it would be nice to have one of the world's best players out on the field."
SUPER RUGBY ROUND 16
Friday: ACT Brumbies v Pretoria Bulls at Canberra Stadium, 7.40pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
Brumbies line-up: 1. Scott Sio, 2. Stephen Moore (c), 3. Ben Alexander, 4. Rory Arnold, 5. Sam Carter, 6. Scott Fardy, 7. David Pocock, 8. Ita Vaea, 9. Nic White, 10. Christian Lealiifano, 11. Joe Tomane, 12. Robbie Coleman, 13. Tevita Kuridrani, 14. Henry Speight, 15. Jesse Mogg. Bench: 16. Josh Mann-Rea, 17. Allan Alaalatoa, 18. Ruan Smith, 19. Jordan Smiler, 20. Jarrad Butler, 21. Michael Dowsett, 22. Nigel Ah Wong, 23. James Dargaville.
