The battling Wallabies forward pack must put their European tour back on track against Italy without their most abrasive ruck warrior, Scott Fardy.

Fardy has been ruled out of this weekend’s Test at Turin’s Stadio Olympico due to the heavy head knock he suffered in the tour-opening 20-13 loss to England.

The aggressive blind-side flanker may have been cleared to play after passing a series of concussion protocols, but coach Ewen McKenzie has been quick to rest him and get on with preparations.

“We’ll allow him to fully recover,” McKenzie said.

“We’ve got to be mindful of how these things pan out, and also give ourselves the best chance to prepare, so we’ve made an early call on it.”

It’s a genuine blow for the Wallabies as the fearless Fardy has been one of their most consistent and dynamic forwards since starting against the All Blacks in late August, and Italy play a highly-physical game.

The Brumbies lock, 29, was again one of Australia’s best at Twickenham before being knocked out in the 50th minute.

The Wallabies were up 13-6 at the time, and his fearless work at the breakdown was missed as they fell into a heap late.

“He’s a pretty good campaigner, he’s new on the Test scene but he’s got a good instinct for the game,” McKenzie said.

“He brings good energy to different situations, so it’s disappointing.”

Western Force No.8 Ben McCalman is now likely to come into the back-row, potentially moving captain Ben Mowen from the back of the scrum to No.6 again.

McCalman played solidly at No.8 in the 41-33 loss to New Zealand in Dunedin three weeks ago when Fardy was out with an eye injury.

In better news for the tourists, hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau is being considered for his first Test start of the year after back-to-back arm and hamstring injuries, while lineout-calling lock Rob Simmons has shrugged off his knee injury.

Simmons trained well on Monday and is now in line to return in a move that puts further heat on deposed skipper James Horwill’s starting place.

Polota-Nau’s power game has been sorely missed in a disappointing 3-8 year for the Wallabies, and McKenzie is keen to have him back, probably on the bench.

“In talking to him, he won’t be 100 per cent but he’ll be pretty close,” the coach said.

“A lot of it is confidence after being a long while out of the game.”

Quade Cooper had a brief training scare after suffering a painful knock on the back of his leg in contact work but went on to finish the session at CUS Torino.