The Wallabies are breathing a big sigh of relief ahead of their Test series against Ireland, with scans revealing Will Genia's knee injury isn't as serious as first thought.
Genia limped off late in the first half of Melbourne's Super Rugby loss to the Crusaders at AAMI Park on Friday night and the initial diagnosis was a grade two or three medial ligament tear.
That would have kept Genia out for about eight weeks, missing the three-Test series next month against the Six Nations champions and likely the remainder of the Rebels' Super Rugby season.
However, the 30-year-old had a scan in Melbourne on Saturday that revealed more positive results.
"Will Genia is expected to miss the club's next three Super Rugby matches after scans this afternoon revealed a low-grade strain to his medial collateral ligament in his knee," the Rebels said in a statement.
"The injury will sideline Genia for upcoming Rebels matches against the ACT Brumbies, the Blues and the Sunwolves."
The Wallabies' first Test against Ireland is in Brisbane on June 9, followed by matches in Melbourne and Sydney.
While he would be under-done after missing three matches, the Australians aren't due to go into camp until June 4, giving Genia, a noted fast healer, time to recover ahead of the opening Test.
Without Genia, the No.9 Test jersey is wide open with Nick Phipps starting on the bench for the Waratahs behind Jake Gordon, while Brumbies halfback Joe Powell is also a contender.
Genia has starred this season for the Rebels, who he joined after two years playing in France, but also missed their two previous games with a hamstring injury.
His absence will hurt Melbourne's hopes of resurrecting their Super Rugby season following five successive losses with the team struggling without him.
They trailed the Crusaders by just three at halftime but without their on-field general conceded 42 unanswered points for a 55-10 thumping.
