Wallabies refuse to stoop to England's grubby tactics

England's dirty tactics have been a major talking point from the first two Tests leading into the decider at the SCG on Saturday.

Wallabies and ACT Brumbies lock Darcy Swain reacted to a hair pull by headbutting Jonny Hill, while England prop Ellis Genge elbowed Nic White in the face while the Wallabies scrumhalf lay on the ground.

Swain's reaction earned him a two-week suspension and meant he missed the rest of the England series, while White didn't retaliate to Genge's elbow and earned the Australians a penalty.

Wallabies assistant coach Dan McKellar expected more of the latter from the Aussies as they look to win the series.

He ruled out the home side fighting grubby fire with grubby fire of their own, preferring to stick to playing the game.

"It's not something we talk about. It's not something we plan or put tactics towards," McKellar said.

"We've got other things that are much more important that will go a fair way to winning a Test series than worrying about trying to niggle people."

Rather than the niggle, McKellar said their focus was on their start - they trailed the Poms 19-0 in the second Test before they fought their way back into the game.

The former Brumbies coach was happy with the way the Wallabies fought back into the contest, but he said they needed to bring much better intent and accuracy with their play early on - both in attack and defence.

Then the Wallabies might be able to take advantage of their relative freshness as England draw towards the end of their season.

"The learning from the first two games is just our start - you've got to start well," McKellar said.

"We've shown in both games a whole lot of character and worked our way back into the game, but our improvement is around our start.

"They're at the back end of their season, it's been a long year for them ... but it's difficult to take advantage of if you're down 19 points after half an hour.

"What you've got to make sure is you bring intent and accuracy and if you've got that on both sides of the ball you give yourself every chance to start well.

"We certainly start our training sessions nice and fast knowing you can't ease your way into the game."

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McKellar was unsure how long lock Cadeyrn Neville would be out with a knee injury, but didn't think it was a long-term problem.

"Pretty disappointed for him ... he's worked incredibly hard to get an opportunity at this level," he said.

"He's had to deal with some setbacks himself. I don't think it's going to be a long-term injury so he'll bounce back."

McKellar said prop Allan Alaalatoa was on track to return to form a powerful one-two prop punch with Taniela Tupou, who returned from a calf injury in the second Test.

Alaalatoa has been going through concussion protocols since the opening Test, which included a mandatory 12-day stand-down.

His return could see him and Tupou team up on the tighthead side of the Wallabies scrum.

"Allan with the new concussion protocols and 12-day stand-down period he's ticked all the boxes he's needed to tick so far and hopefully that continues and he's available for selection," McKellar said.

"It's just good to have two good quality tighthead props available to share the workload."

WALLABIES TEST MATCH

Saturday: Australia v England at the SCG, 7.55pm.