'Not a distraction': Schmidt says Wallabies have opportunity with absences

"It's not really a distraction for us. It's an opportunity. I just knew that was the case already, so it hasn't been a distraction or frustration.

"You often get dealt a set of cards and and while you may shuffle the deck a little bit or try to steal a card from somewhere else, if those cards aren't available, you shuffle what you've got and try to put out your best hand.

"And we feel that we've got a hand that can challenge England - but we know how good they are and that might not be enough, but we're certainly going to give it a try."

Asked whether Rugby Australia could have paid for the players' release, Schmidt added: "No, I don't think you can. While the Premiership clubs get a payout from the Rugby Football Union, there is a boundary for foreign players to be allowed to play. It wasn't a case of paying money to get someone released."

Still, he couldn't resist a gentle dig at England counterpart Steve Borthwick, who'd suggested Australia had an advantage because they'd been together for four months while he had only had four sessions with his players.

"We've had two sessions, actually," smiled Schmidt.

"We've just come from Japan where we made 13 changes. Cohesion-wise, and also in terms of fatigue, we've had 15 Test matches across 22 weeks in nine countries, and 10 different time zones. So I'd be happy to swap that for four trainings, to be honest!"

Tane Edmed will take the Wallabies' playmaking reins again with Carter Gordon's comeback on hold. Schmidt said the NRL returnee Gordon, who'd had an injury concern, had trained and "reintegrated" well with the team on Thursday and would be available for the Italy, Ireland and France Tests.

But after the hard-fought win against Japan with very much a second-string outfit, Schmidt has got most of his big guns back in action.

Tighthead prop Taniela Tupou is back in the starting side, while captain Harry Wilson is No.8 again in that powerful back row with Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight.

Waratahs teammates Jake Gordon and Edmed start in the halves for the third straight Test, while the backline features last year's Twickenham matchwinners Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen.

WALLABIES TEAM TO FACE ENGLAND

Andrew Kellaway, Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Hunter Paisami, Harry Potter, Tane Edmed, Jake Gordon; Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Nick Frost, Taniela Tupou, Billy Pollard, Angus Bell

Replacements: Josh Nasser, Tom Robertson, Allan Alaalatoa, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Ryan Lonergan, Hamish Stewart, Filipo Daugunu.

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