As the playing group rallied around their under-fire team mate this week, Fairfax Media has learned that three of the most senior players in the Wallabies squad met coach Ewen McKenzie on Monday in an attempt to mitigate the fall-out from Beale's verbal stoush with team business manager Di Patston a day earlier.

It is understood Wallabies captain Michael Hooper and vice captains James Slipper and Adam Ashley-Cooper spoke to McKenzie at the Emperador Hotel in Buenos Aires about what they could do to salvage the side's preparation for their final Rugby Championship clash with the Pumas on Saturday.

They also expressed their support for Beale, who was in danger of being sent home for his role in a heated argument with Patston on a South Africa Airways flight from Johannesburg on Sunday.

"Like any business, we're a big part of it, being the leadership group," Hooper said at the team's captain's run on Friday.

"Of course we're going to have discussions with the coaching staff about processes and matters within the team.

"He is important to the side but all that matter is back in Australia now and being dealt with in the [Australian Rugby Union]."

An investigation into the incident is being headed by the ARU's integrity unit chief Phil Thomson, and Patston flew home to Australia on Tuesday afternoon. Beale remained with the team, but was not named in the squad to face Argentina on Saturday.

His future in rugby is unclear. The Waratahs playmaker is off contract this year and, while wildly successful at No.12 in NSW's title-winning campaign, Beale has been on something of a probation period with the ARU after off-field controversies between 2011 and 2013.

While McKenzie and the ARU wrestle with the incident in question, it appears Beale has the full support of the playing group.

Wallabies No.8 Scott Higginbotham spoke out in support of the 25-year-old on Thursday, describing as "great" Beale's influence on the team since his return from shoulder surgery at the end of last season.

"It's great. His influence is great," Higginbotham said.

"I love Kurtley. Him and I have been on the bench a lot this year and we talk a lot about the game in training, out of training, even during the game. Him and I are always talking about what's going on on the field. We did that at the Rebels. I really enjoy playing with him and being around him."

Higginbotham was captain of the Melbourne Rebels when Beale and the club parted ways in tense circumstances in the middle of last year. His endorsement this week, after a disrupted season with him in Super Rugby, was significant.

"I said I was happy to have Kurtley stay last year but I understood he wanted to leave ... to sort out his issues and that was his choice," Higginbotham said.

"I've always said this and I said it when I was captain of the Rebels, he's a fantastic bloke, a fantastic player ... He had those issues and he sorted them out. I don't think there's any more issues coming up, basically."

The off-field drama overshadowed the raft of changes McKenzie made to the Wallabies side for their must-win clash with Argentina. Besides Beale's omission, Higginbotham was named to make his first Test start since June after incumbent No.8 Ben McCalman flew home from South Africa with a shoulder injury.

Rob Simmons' ongoing recovery from concussion saw James Horwill named to start in his place in the second row, while Waratahs cult hero Will Skelton was named in reserve among a few changes to the bench.

McKenzie said he was pleased with the playing group's willingness to cast aside all distractions to focus on finishing the side's Rugby Championship campaign on a high.

"They're footballers in the end and their job is to play football, so the best thing they can do in terms of contributing is to do exactly that," he said.

"Their focus has been on that role. It's a really difficult game; you've got an Argentinian team that's been playing very well but without getting any reward for that.

"They'll be desperate to get some reward at the end of the championship and we'll be desperate to make sure they don't get that reward and we nail the championship with a good win."

McKenzie was also confident the Wallabies were a united squad after questions were raised by Fairfax Media about the circumstances leading to Sunday's in-flight incident.

"We've made a lot of progress, it shows up on and off the field in the last period of time," he said, referring to the side's 28-10 loss to South Africa last week.

"While the scoreboard wasn't what we wanted, we saw a lot of players out there, it was double the tackle count of a normal game, and that doesn't happen if people aren't committed to the cause.

"It's the easiest illustration and the most recent."