The Wallabies have drafted uncapped London Irish prop Ollie Hoskins into their spring tour squad as cover for injured superstar Taniela Tupou.
Hoskins, 28, is a Perth product who played for the Western Force between 2014-16 before taking up a contract in London.
The tighthead has become a pillar of the Irish pack with 123 appearances and provides valuable experience following Tupou’s sickening head clash in the 15-13 loss to Scotland in Edinburgh on Monday (AEDT).
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Tupou failed a HIA during the match and while he is yet to be officially ruled out for Sunday’s (4.30am AEDT) Test the indications are that he will.
“It’s pretty wild, it’s hard to put into words how I feel,” Hoskins told his club’s website.
“It’s surreal, it’s something that I thought was off the table for me when I moved over here and set up my life here.
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“They’ve obviously recently changed the laws, so when I got that phone call last night, it was an incredible moment.
“Obviously nothing is guaranteed in terms of playing time, but just to receive the call-up and be considered is a huge privilege, and confirmation that I’m on the right path and doing the right things.
“I’m just going to lap up the experience and hopefully come back a better man and a better player.”
https://twitter.com/omdhoskins/status/1458199010561433606?s=20
The Wallabies are also sweating on the fitness of winger Jordan Petaia, who injured his hamstring at Murrayfield and is not expected to be fit to play England, who have their own selection headaches.
Prop Joe Marler tested positive for COVID-19 and has been ruled out of the match as he now isolates for 10 days.
However, captain Owen Farrell has been cleared after his COVID-19 case was confirmed as a false positive.
“At the weekend, we showed we were able to handle that, disruption, if you want to call it that,” England defence coach Anthony Seibold said, referring to the COVID-19 scare before news of Marler’s results broke.
“I’ve been really impressed with the way the group handled this morning.
“Yesterday late evening, we got some news that we had to go back to our rooms.
“I think we’ve handled it in the right manner.
“We had a bit of a delayed start to the morning because we’re waiting for some results, but it’s been business as usual.
“The group has handled that distraction, or disruption so to speak, and I thought we had a really positive training session.”