Tatafu Polota-Nau is set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a high ankle sprain against Argentina on Saturday.

Scans have shown Polota-Nau was injured in the first half of the Gold Coast match and he faces two months on the sidelines.

It's a major blow for both Australia and the hooker, who was making his return from a knee ligament tear in his 50th Test.

Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie, who is also missing Stephen Moore and Nathan Charles for the rest of the year, will again be forced to rely on fourth-string hooker James Hanson for the Rugby Championship Test with the Springboks in Cape Town on 27 September.

McKenzie said he will take three hookers on the two-Test tour of South Africa and Argentina and hopes to have Waratahs reserve Tolu Latu back from a broken arm to vie for a place with Saia Fainga'a and Josh Mann-Rea.

In a double blow from the desperate win over the Pumas, winger Peter Betham is also in serious doubt for November's European tour after reinjuring his broken foot.

Scans have detected a fracture but team officials said it's unclear how bad the damage is to Betham, who scored his first Test try in the Wallabies' win.

Betham joins Henry Speight (hamstring) on the sidelines but experienced utility Adam Ashley-Cooper is expected back from a neck problem to play against the Springboks while Joe Tomane (hamstring) is also now fit again.

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