Hey Dave Rennie, Lenny Ikitau's Wallabies-ready

Ikitau's in the Australian camp preparing for their three-Test series against France, with the series opener at Lang Park next Wednesday.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed a breakout Super Rugby campaign, establishing himself in the Brumbies centres alongside Irae Simone.

It has him in the mix to make his Wallabies debut against the French.

He's been in Wallabies camp in the past, but felt more prepared this time around.

"Last year was a learning experience at camp and I didn't really feel like I deserved to be in there," Ikitau said.

"The limited game times I had, I was coming off the bench, I didn't really start.

"Just getting a full year this year under my belt I just feel like I'm ready to go and ready to compete at this level."

MORE BRUMBIES NEWS

And he said playing against Kiwi Super Rugby teams helped that.

After the Super Rugby AU competition, there was the crossover trans-Tasman comp that pitted teams from across the Ditch against each other.

Rugby Australia were still reportedly dragging their feet about committing to the trans-Tasman component again - despite the obvious benefits.

"Yeah I guess, playing against the quality 13s they have of the likes of [Anton] Lienert-Brown and Rieko Ioane gets you a feel of what international footy's like," Ikitau said.

"I feel like I competed at a level where I could play.

"They like to play on top of you, they like to play quick footy. That was something I picked up on as we played the New Zealand teams."

At 180 centimetres tall and 90 kilograms, Ikitau isn't the biggest outside centre going around.

Former Brumby Tevita Kuridrani's 192cm and 102kg, while All Blacks centre Lienert-Brown's 185cm and 96kg.

But that doesn't worry Ikitau at all who appears to be a believer in the saying "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog" that matters.

He pointed to Wallabies squadmate Hunter Paisami as an example of another smaller centre.

The pair have been touted as a possible centre-pairing for the Wallabies in the upcoming France series.

"I don't really care if I'm too small or that sort of thing. Just like Hunter - Hunter's a small guy, but he hits hard and I feel like I'm kind of the same, I'm similar in that area," Ikitau said.

"I just play my footy and let my footy do the talking."

Meanwhile, the Wallabies have lost another veteran with prop Scott Sio ruled out of the Test series with a hamstring injury.

The 29-year-old, who has 59 Test caps, suffered the injury at the Wallabies' training camp last Friday.

After scans on the weekend it was decided he should return to Canberra for further treatment, ruling him out of the three-Test series.

Melbourne Rebels loosehead prop Cameron Orr has joined the squad at their Gold Coast base as a replacement.

The Australian team had already lost seasoned halfback Nic White after he hurt his knee at training.

Playmaker Matt Toomua, who has been battling a neck injury, returned to the squad on Tuesday after seeking treatment in Canberra, where Rugby Australia's chief medical officer Warren McDonald was based. with AAP.