Taniela Tupou’s concussion one of many headaches for Davie Rennie as England looms

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie will have risen in London on Monday morning hoping his giant tight-head prop Taniela Tupou also woke feeling fresh.

Taniela Tupou is concussed after a clash with Scotland's centre Sam Johnson Picture: AFP

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie will have risen in London on Monday morning hoping his giant tight-head prop Taniela Tupou also woke feeling fresh.

The Wallabies flew into the English capital on Sunday night just hours after their controversial 15-13 loss in Edinburgh, the noise of the bagpipes still ringing in their ears after letting slip a match that was there for the taking.

They left nursing some wounded personnel. Jordan Petaia is expected to miss the rest of the tour following a hamstring injury, while Tupou left the field early in the second half due to concussion.

Tupou, a prop like no other in world rugby, was given a taste of his own medicine during the defeat when he was rocked to the core by centre Sam Johnson.

The 25-year-old now faces a race against the clock to pass concussion protocols to face Eddie Jones’s England next weekend.

Rennie spoke optimistically in the minutes after the momentum-killing loss that his game-changing forward would be fit.

“Nella, obviously, got a head knock,” said Rennie, who has a number of selection headaches to ponder, including in the front-row, lock, halfback, inside centre, wing and fullback.

“He’s fine at the moment, so he’s got enough time to be available for next week, but obviously he has to go through fair protocols and find out later in the week if he’s available.”

The Wallabies will be desperate he is fit because their scrum was taken to the cleaners by Scotland, when Allan Alaalatoa and James Slipper struggled.

“I thought it was a bit of a mess,” Rennie said of the scrums. “We’ll feed back directly to the referees. It’s a tough area to adjudicate. As happens every week around the scrum, obviously didn’t agree with a number of the decisions.”

The defeat also came after key changes at fly-half, inside centre and fullback following the withdrawals of Quade Cooper and Samu Kerevi, as well as Reece Hodge’s injury at fullback.

Rennie must now decide whether to back his men to improve following the extra run.

Should Tupou be fit, he is someone who could put some fear into the eyes of the English, who have won their previous seven ­encounters against the Wallabies, including the quarter-final at the World Cup.

While the Wallabies’ second-row was strong, Rennie will be tempted to throw Will Skelton into the fray immediately after a few promising touches upon his return to the national side.

Elsewhere, Tate McDermott could pose some unique challenges to England should he start over the experienced Nic White.

McDermott, who has yet to play at Twickenham, does not take a backward step, while his electric running game could pose questions for the big English forwards and take some pressure off James O’Connor.