Lealiifano looms as the man to answer the Wallabies' inside centre SOS after Matt Toomua and Kurtley Beale suffered injuries in Super Rugby and with incumbent No. 12 Matt Giteau committed to his season in France with Toulon.

It comes as the Brumbies start building a team around their co-captain, who turned down overseas offers to commit to a flexible deal in Canberra until at least 2018 which is also set to see him link with Japanese giant Suntory later this year.

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham and interim chief executive Phil Thomson have ramped up player contract negotiations this week and are poised to re-sign more players in the coming days.

Lealiifano is a key piece in the puzzle while Queensland hooker Saia Faingaa signed a deal this week and young guns Tom Staniforth and Jordan Jackson-Hope also on the radar.

News that Canberra juniors Staniforth and Jackson-Hope are close to signing contracts is a major boost to the Brumbies after they got their season back on track by beating the Melbourne Rebels last weekend.

The winning form will also help Lealiifano's quest to win back a gold jersey nine months after he was left out of Wallabies coach Michael Cheika's World Cup squad.

Cheika said on Wednesday night that Lealiifano had put himself in contention to be injected back into the Test arena after spearheading the Brumbies' attack this year.

NSW Waratah Beale suffered a season-ending knee injury last weekend while Toomua is recovering from knee surgery and is rated an outside chance of being able to play in the three-Test series against England.

Lealiifano was part of a test planning session in Melbourne after beating the Rebels, but the 28-year-old says his sole focus is on building momentum in the Brumbies' season.

The Brumbies have just one game left - a clash against Super Rugby newcomers the Japan Sunwolves - before Cheika selects his squad to play England.

"I've been focusing purely on the Brumbies and trying to get the team going, obviously as a leader now," Lealiifano said.

"That's been my sole focus and it's nice to get invited to these Wallabies camps. The camps are nothing to be banked on or relied on.

"I'm really enjoying my rugby at the moment and whatever comes after that, I'll deal with it then."

Beale was expected to take the inside centre spot alongside flyhalf Bernard Foley before he was struck down by a serious knee injury.

It added to Cheika's inside-backs headache, with a host of players unavailable because of injury or overseas playing duties.

Giteau, Quade Cooper and James O'Connor have all filled the Wallabies' playmaker roles in recent years, but all play in France while Toomua and Beale are injured.

"Kurtley's been in a rich vein of form ... he would have been the front-runner [for the Wallabies' No. 12 jersey], no doubt," Cheika said on Rugby 360.

"We've got a few options now, Christian's around and playing well. He started the season playing well ... there's Samu [Kerevi] as well.

"We can mix and match around that [inside centre] position if we need to. We've got a lot of back line injuries and players overseas, so there will be new players in this squad [to play England]. I want to see how it pans out."

Toomua and Brumbies winger Joseph Tomane were part of Cheika's planning camp as they race the clock to be fit, while prop Allan Alaalatoa and lock Rory Arnold are also fighting for their first Test caps.

Larkham has turned his focus to re-signing players in the Brumbies' Super Rugby bye week while he also works to finalise his own coaching future.

Larkham has said he wants to continue as the Brumbies' boss and is in negotiations with Thomson as the pair work out a deal that will likely see him keep his role as the Wallabies' assistant coach.

"We started something [at the World Cup] last year and we want to continue it this year - it's about bringing pride back into the jersey," Larkham said.

"It's a massively important series for us against England and there's no doubt the attitude we'll want to have our best players out there, the team will be selected accordingly."