The Wallabies have received a blow ahead of Saturday's (0130 Sunday AEDT) rugby Test against England with reserve hooker Huia Edmonds ruled out.

Edmonds has a shoulder problem he picked up during his strong performance in the midweek win over Leicester.

He will be replaced on the Australian bench by Saia Fainga'a.

The loss of the experienced Edmonds is a setback for the Wallabies, who were hoping he would be part of the solution to their scrummaging woes.

"It's very disappointing this late in the piece," skipper Rocky Elsom said.

"It's a very hard call for him to not be able to play but I guess it's probably the right call."

Edmonds is the third Australian hooker to suffer an injury on tour, with Stephen Moore a late withdrawal last week against Wales and Fainga'a limping off the Millennium Stadium with a cork.

Moore is back to start at Twickenham while Fainga'a, whose lighter frame was possibly one factor in the scrum meltdown in Cardiff, gets another chance.

"Saia's fine, he's a pretty resilient guy," Elsom said.

"There's nothing wrong with what Saia's doing at the moment."

Edmonds should be right for next Tuesday's clash with Munster in Limerick, while former starting hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau was also added to the squad this week.

Elsom is unconcerned that most of the talk this week has been about the Australian scrum.

"Last year there was a lot of talk about the scrum, the year before that there was a lot of talk about the scrum, 2007 there was a lot of talk about the scrum, 2005 they didn't say anything and it didn't go very well," he said.

"It's hard to say what will happen."

But Elsom said the Wallabies' last-up 21-20 loss to England, in Sydney in June, had helped prepare Australia for a massive assignment in front of 82,000 in south-west London.

"You try when you're winning matches to see everything as it is and not get carried away with the win," he said.

"With a loss you can't help but look over everything.

"That (loss) helped us along a hell of a lot.

"We've been fortunate enough to get a lot out of our losses.

"In saying that, you'd prefer not to have them."

Australia have not lost a Test to the Red Rose in England since coach Robbie Deans took over in 2008.

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