The Wallabies plan to honour Phillip Hughes by wearing black armbands against England at Twickenham after being rocked by the young cricketer’s death.

Both teams on Thursday expressed their shock and sadness at Hughes’ passing and it’s expected a tribute to him will be held prior to kickoff in Saturday’s Test.

Wallabies captain Michael Hooper said Australian players had requested to wear armbands and would be “thinking of Phillip and his family”.

“It’s the kind of news you never want to wake up to,” Hooper said after the team trained in London on Thursday.

“It’s a pretty sombre mood when we’ve been talking about it as a group because we play in a sport (where) you don’t see these things happen.

“We all love our cricket and see these guys play and a lot of the guys have met the cricketers and have good feelings towards them.

“So our thoughts and our messages go back to him and his family and for the whole cricket team to stay strong.

“For us to see that, it’s tough and this weekend we’ll hopefully be able to show our messages strongly.”

Several Wallabies players had met Hughes and he took part in a cross-sport promotional photo shoot with Israel Folau, Matt Toomua and Nic White earlier this year.

Waratahs Winger Rob Horne occasionally crossed paths with the former NSW batsman around the Moore Park sporting complex and said it was a devastating day for Australian sport.

“We’re very fortunate the life we live as sportsmen; we’re the very few people who get to do what we love as a living and to hear something like that is a reality check for sure,” said Horne, who will start his first Test of the tour on Saturday.

“My heart just goes out to everyone involved in cricket in Australia and Phil and his family. It’s devastating.”

England rugby coach Stuart Lancaster also offered his condolences.

“Obviously we were all deeply saddened and shocked this morning to hear the news and on behalf of England rugby we’d like to pass on our condolences to his family and friends and obviously the Australian team themselves,” Lancaster said.

Hooper said while Hughes would be in the players’ minds on Saturday they would be able to focus on the job at hand in their tour finale.

The Wallabies are out to avoid losing three Tests on a European tour for the first time since 2005.

“It’s going to be crucial for us to get a result this week,” Hooper said.