Mortlock was stripped of the Australia captaincy in favour of Elsom

Former captain Stirling Mortlock has been ruled out of Australia's tour of Britain after suffering a setback in his recovery from a calf injury.

The problem was already due to keep the centre out of Saturday's match against England at Twickenham.

But the 32-year-old will now also miss the upcoming ties against Ireland, Wales and Scotland after aggravating the muscle on a training run.

The Wallabies have already lost fellow centres Rob Horne and Berrick Barnes.

Mortlock missed Australia's last four matches of the Tri-Nations series following a knee injury sustained against South Africa, but was recalled for the northern hemisphere tour before pulling a calf muscle in training.

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Robbie Deans' Australia side finished bottom of the Tri-Nations table following five defeats in six matches.

Mortlock was recently stripped of the captain's armband in favour of former Leinster flanker Rocky Elsom.

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