David Pocock has been named to play for the Wallabies, but coach Michael Cheika has hinted that he may not take the field against the Springboks on Saturday night.
Pocock could barely move his neck after Australia's second Bledisloe Cup Test defeat to New Zealand and has been spared from contact work at training this week.
Cheika admitted he wasn't 100 per cent fit to play but said he didn't necessarily need to be given his vast experience.
"You know him, he wants to play at all costs." he told reporters.
However, Cheika twice used the word "if" when referring to Pocock's place in the team, suggesting he could end up a late scratching in the event his neck does not heal properly.
"He's still got a couple of days to go," he said.
"We want him to mend a little bit.
"He's been running but he hasn't done a lot of contact work this week which is always not good when you're going into a big game like this.
"I think also if he plays we've got to make sure that we protect him a little bit more.
"He's taken a lot of action to his head and neck and we need to protect him a little bit more if he's out there."
All Blacks players were accused of targeting Pocock with illegal neck rolls and twists in their big win in Auckland two weeks ago.
Cheika chose not to bite when asked if referees needed to police that area of the game correctly.
"I'm not in charge of them. I'm only in charge of our blokes," he said.
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