Hickey's side tackle the Blues in Auckland for a place in the Super Rugby semi-finals © Getty Images

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Tournaments/Tours: Super Rugby

Teams: Australia | New South Wales Waratahs | New Zealand | South Africa

Waratahs coach Chris Hickey has been forced to delay naming his side for the Super Rugby showdown with the Blues as he combats a growing injury list.

Scrum-half Luke Burgess joined the casualty list after fracturing his hand during training on Thursday and he was set to fly home for treatment today in the hope he would be ready for next week's semi-final should his side see off the Blues at Eden Park. The Burgess blow adds to the loss of hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, prop Al Baxter, fly-half Daniel Halangahu due to injuries in last weekend's defeat of the Brumbies.

Hickey said he wanted to see how several players shaped up, including halfback candidates Josh Holmes and Brendan McKibbin, before naming the final team. "Losing three players last week was far from ideal, and to have Luke on top of that, it does make it tough," he said. "We'll finalise our 22 once we've had the captain's run."

With back-up hooker Damien Fitzpatrick also injured, Elvis Taione is likely to be promoted from club rugby to the bench. The injuries will also see Wallabies fullback Kurtley Beale moved into first five-eighth, a position he has played for much of his career but one where his elusive running is unlikely to have the same impact.

"Ideally we would have liked to keep Kurtley at 15, that's where he's played so well for us this year, but with injuries this year to Berrick Barnes and then Daniel Halangahu we're really looking for someone else that can play five-eighth, and that's Kurtley."

Hickey said the injury situation was far from ideal but the replacements had regularly stepped up so far this season and he was confident they would do so again against the Blues. "This is just another challenge that we've got to meet, and I guess it's in those situations that you find out about the mental tenacity, the toughness of a team. This team's had to do that all year, so these disruptions, even this week, haven't been that disruptive because it's an issue we've been dealing with for 18 weeks."

Hickey said the Waratahs were far from alone with this -- the Blues have had their own share of injuries -- and he said the extra five weeks resulting from the re-formatted Super Rugby season was clearly a contributing factor. "I think the format's good, but certainly the extra five weeks in the competition has taken its toll on all teams," he said.

"I think all the unions will need to sit down and have a look at squad numbers moving into next year because it'll be an even longer season next year. This year to date we've used 38 players, so a squad of 30 just won't cut it."

Though he didn't think the travel was too big a factor, Hickey said he would have preferred a home playoff match and he expected the Blues to be tough opponents. "They've got attacking strengths all around the park. They've got good leadership. Up front they've got a strong forward pack that can supply their backs with quality ball. That's what most teams are looking for and the Blues tick most of those areas," he said.

"But I think coming forward to the finals series it's always good to have some momentum and we've had a couple of strong wins against the Highlanders and the Brumbies."