Jul 24th, 2017

Karmichael Hunt will miss the Bledisloe Cup openers after undergoing ankle surgery. ( AAP)

Jul 24th, 2017

An ankle injury to Test rookie Karmichael Hunt has opened the Wallabies selection door even wider for Kurtley Beale to return in his targeted spot of inside centre. 

Hunt, who impressed in his first three Test appearances in June in the unfamiliar No.12 shirt, will be out for six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery. 

He will miss at least the first two of Australia's Rugby Championship games, back-to-back Tests against world champions New Zealand in Sydney and Dunedin in August. 

Hunt could also miss Australia's home games against South Africa and Argentina in September. 

"He ended up having a small operation on a syndesmosis injury so he's got nothing doing for the first ten days," Cheika said on Monday in Newcastle, where the Wallabies are in camp this week. 

"Then we'll start working on him and his fitness level.  Obviously he's very disappointed." 

Utility back Beale was in the frame to replace Hunt, even if the Queensland Reds star hadn't got injured. 

Beale trained separately from the main group on Monday morning, as he continued his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury he suffered in May with English club Wasps. 

"At the end of his rehab over there, he did a little re-injury of it, but that would have been four or five weeks ago now," Cheika said. 

"We're just taking the precautions to get him back into the right condition and I'd say after this week he'll be back in full training." 

Hunt's Queensland teammate, winger Eto Nabuli, who made his Test debut in June, has a knee injury which rules him out of the entire Rugby Championship. 

Hooker Tolu Latu is also on the injury list, as he remains troubled by a pinched nerve in his neck. 

Cheika is putting an emphasis on physical and mental conditioning in the next couple of weeks in preparation for the games against New Zealand he predicts will be the most intense his players will experience. 

"The way that I like to coach and for the game we want to play, we do need to be at the best fitness level we can be," Cheika said. 

"We're not going to acquire that all in a couple of weeks, but the guys have been playing footy for six months now. 

"We've got to turn the key inside of their minds to get them to the next level up." 

©AAP2017