On Wednesday night, the Wallabies enjoyed a low-stakes game of poker together in their hotel and by Thursday morning, Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt had shuffled his squad that is deprived of three aces in Exeter’s Tom Hooper, Len Ikitau and Leicester’s James O’Connor.

Saturday’s Test does not fall in the three-week window where clubs must release O’Connor, Ikitau and Hooper, via World Rugby’s regulation nine, although England can name a full-strength side from the same competition due to a negotiated deal between the Premiership and the Rugby Football Union.

“It’s not really a distraction for us, it’s an opportunity . . . you often get dealt a set of cards 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 shuffl

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