Nic White racing the injury clock before Brumbies' finals campaign

White is still battling a shoulder injury and will miss his second game in a row when the Brumbies play the Waikato Chiefs in Canberra.

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham hopes to get more clarity on White's availability, with an assessment on the weekend to determine when he will next be ready for selection.

"His SC [joint] is causing him a bit of grief at the moment, we're hoping that will settle down and we'll make a decision on Monday for next week," Larkham said.

"We'll have a good indication on Monday morning of where he's at and we'll make the decision as to whether he's going to play [against the Melbourne Rebels] in the last round."

Asked if he was confident White would be available for a finals campaign, Larkham said: "I guess so. We're getting an update over the weekend and if things haven't progressed, there might be another reason for that.

"We'll wait and see at this stage. He's been improving every day and he was pretty close to being available for this weekend, so I'd expect he'd be right for next weekend."

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White was missing from the list of returning Wallabies when Larkham named his team on Thursday, with James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa, Lachlan Lonergan, Rob Valetini, Nick Frost, Len Ikitau, Noah Lolesio and Tom Wright all back in the starting side to play the top of the table Chiefs.

Ryan Lonergan will start at No. 9 again, while Klayton Thorn has been kept out of the Australian under-20s camp to play the back-up scrumhalf role from the bench.

The Brumbies will use the next two games as finals-like preparation as they try to force their way back into the top two and avoid slipping as low as fifth on the ladder.

"We're sharpening the edges this week, but we've had the same focus all year," Larkham said.

"We know there are finals coming up, but we don't know what the finals look like at this stage. All we can control is the performance this weekend."

SUPER RUGBY

Saturday: ACT Brumbies v Waikato Chiefs at Canbera Stadium, 7.35pm

Brumbies team: 1. James Slipper, 2. Lachlan Lonergan, 3. Allan Alaalatoa, 4. Nick Frost, 5. Tom Hooper, 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Jahrome Brown, 8. Pete Samu, 9. Ryan Lonergan, 10. Noah Lolesio, 11. Corey Toole, 12. Tamati Tua, 13. Len Ikitau, 14. Andy Muirhead, 15. Tom Wright. Reserves: 16. Connal McInerney, 17. Blake Schoupp, 18. Sefo Kautai, 19. Darcy Swain, 20. Luke Reimer, 21. Klayton Thorn, 22. Jack Debreczeni, 23. Ollie Sapsford.

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