As of Sunday evening, Lealiifano was still in Canberra by the side of his pregnant wife awaiting the birth of their first child. It is unclear when or even if Lealiifano will join the squad in Brisbane, but if he does he may have insufficient time to impress for a possible spot at inside centre for Saturday's clash at Suncorp Stadium.

Another possible No.12 option is Karmichael Hunt, who sat out the majority of the Wallabies camp in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast through injury, but is expected to resume training on Monday as he pushes for a Test debut.

Meanwhile prop Sekope Kepu was expected to link up with the squad on Sunday evening after touching down in Sydney from France.

Cheika has to weigh up whether Kepu – who on Friday announced he was leaving Bordeaux-Begles for a three-year deal with the Waratahs – will have enough time to prepare for what is expected to be an extremely physical encounter with England.

One prop ready to rip in, however, is James Slipper, a player who made his debut against England in 2010.

Since then the 26-year-old has notched up 74 Tests for the Wallabies, but another victory against the old enemy in his home state of Queensland would be mighty special for the loose-head stalwart.

"Every time you come up against England it's a special occasion," Slipper said. "Just with the history between the two nations – not only in rugby but sport in general – the two countries really enjoy playing each other and that's no different for me. I've got a bit of history playing England for my first game, so always nice to play them again."

A salivating scrum contest has been all the talk in the lead-up and Slipper says physical training sessions will serve Australia perfectly against a highly motivated England pack seeking redemption after their World Cup failure. "They've had a very strong scrum for many years," Slipper said.