'Doesn't make sense to me at all': Legend blasts rulemakers for 'devaluing' Wallabies Test vs England
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Wales legend Dan Biggar has blasted World Rugby for allowing a lopsided playing field in Sunday's (AEDT) clash between England and Australia at Twickenham.
World Rugby's international window - regulation nine - doesn't open until next week, meaning British and European clubs aren't obligated to release their Australian players for the Test in London.
But England have access to all of their Premiership players under the "professional game agreement" struck between the national body and the domestic competition.
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The Premiership has paused for a month and England's RFU pay the clubs huge money for full access to players.
But the Wallabies have no such luxury, meaning John Eales Medallist Len Ikitau, James O'Connor and Tom Hooper - now all with England clubs - will be idle this weekend before joining the team in Italy.
"The Wallabies being without key men is a real shame and to me, devalues the match slightly," Biggar wrote for the Daily Mail.
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Dan Biggar of Wales misses an attempt at a drop goal under pressure by Michael Hooper of Australia. Getty
"I don't understand why this game, even though it takes place outside of World Rugby's match window, still contributes to ranking points.
"That means it will influence the draw for the 2027 World Cup which takes place at the end of this campaign, which doesn't make sense to me at all.
"Even if Australia were fully loaded, I'd still expect England to win, however."
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Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is due to name his team at 11pm AEDT on Thursday.
Josh Canham has been ruled out with concussion but fellow lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto is set to play through the pain barrier.
Salakaia-Loto started in Saturday's 19-15 win over Japan in Tokyo but lasted just six minutes before leaving with a rib cartilage injury.
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto of Australia runs with the ball. Getty
"The size of the effort is going to have to go up and there will be some different personnel," Schmidt told Nine's Today.
"Inevitably, we took a couple of knocks last week, lost a couple of our second row men, and while one of them may bounce back in Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, there are other guys who won't feature in this game.
"We're certainly looking forward to seeing the bulk of the players get their opportunity during the five match tour."
Carter Gordon in action in Urayasu. Getty
Tane Edmed is set to retain the No.10 jersey as Carter Gordon continues his transition back into rugby from the NRL.
"He's been super. He is just recalibrating himself, I suppose, and doing really well," Schmidt said.
"So we'd expect to see him back sooner rather than later. With Carter, he's got a little bit of a (quad) niggle that people have talked about. He ran at 96 per cent speed, on Tuesday.
"So we think he's probably round about right and ready to go."
Big names Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Max Jorgensen and Fraser McReight are set to return after being rested against Japan.
"I think you'll see a lot of the superstars back, and they should go in with confidence because the Wallabies know they can win at Twickenham," Morgan Turinui said on Stan Sport's Between Two Posts.
ENGLAND (15-1): Freddie Steward, Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, George Ford, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Guy Pepper, Ollie Chessum, Maro Itoje (c), Joe Heyes, Jamie George, Fin Baxter
Reserves: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Alex Coles, Tom Curry, Henry Pollock, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith
