Australian coach Robbie Deans was left ruing his team's growing injury count after a bruising encounter with the United States in a Pool C match that saw them get their World Cup campaign back on track.

Such is the toll that discarded veteran utility back Matt Giteau is on standby to join the Wallabies in New Zealand.

In a hard-hitting encounter the Wallabies won 67-5, both starting centres and a replacement midfielder were all taken off with serious injuries.

"Obviously, there was a consequence from the game," said Deans. "At first glance, it doesn't look great."

Deans said Rob Horne's fractured cheekbone, sustained in his first tackle of the match, was a "minor displacement" and classified as "promising".

Outside centre Anthony Fainga'a, who scored a brace of tries, was knocked clean out when he took a knee to a head while attempting a tackle in the last minute of the game.

He received several minutes of on-field treatment before being taken off on a stretcher, but Deans said that was par for the course.

"It never looks good, but the stretcher's protocol in those circumstances. He can recall everything including the moments leading up to the tackle, so that's a great sign," the former All Black said.

"We will monitor him, it's not something we mess around with. We want to make sure he's fully recovered before he enters the fray. We will not be re-entering Anthony Fainga'a until he's fit and able."

Pat McCabe, who came on as a replacement for Horne, suffered a "sublaxed" (dislocated) shoulder, Deans dubbing the injury as not as "grave as it potentially could be".

No.8 Wycliff Palu will undergo an MRI scan on his hamstring strain, while hat-trick scorer Adam Ashley-Cooper "jammed his ankle, so he's not moving very freely but it's nothing too sinister".

Fullback Kurtley Beale and wing Drew Mitchell both tightened up, while the four players unavailable for selection - Digby Ioane (broken thumb), David Pocock (back), Scott Higginbotham (back), James Horwill (hamstring) - were all "progressing well".

With three centres having been injured, Deans acknowledged that veteran Matt Giteau, controversially omitted from the squad could be flown in as a replacement.

"He's obviously in the frame for a call-up because he was in the original 40-strong training squad," said Deans.

"The good thing now is that we've got an eight-day turnaround and we won't actually be getting back out to the training field until Tuesday.

"We probably won't be making any decisions in the next 48 hours. We'll make sure we're fully aware, fully informed, before we move.

"When you've been around the game as long as I have, you just keep going, it's part of it. It's a part of the game the players don't enjoy, nor do we as coaching staff but it's a constant.

"You've got to keep concentrating on what's important for the group and recognise that you can't avoid that stuff and critically, it's about the fit and able ones."

The Wallabies will now head to Canterbury on the South Island for some downtime before relocating to Nelson ahead of their match against Russia next Saturday.

AFP