The ACT Brumbies are set to welcome back captain Allan Alaalatoa and vice-captain Andy Muirhead as they look to rebound after a tough Blues defeat.
Alaalatoa has not featured since the Bledisloe Cup in July, rupturing his Achilles.
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It ruled the skipper out of the Rugby World Cup, having been named captain of Australia before that Test.
"My first emotions (when it happened) it was quite tough," he told Rugby.com.au in February.
“A World Cup is something you build towards over a two year period, you work really hard to try and give yourself an opportunity to play so when I got injured, the first thought was just devastation. I was sad to rule myself out of the opportunity to go."
Alaalatoa returned to full training last week, joined by vice-captain Andy Muirhead, who is also coming back from a knee injury.
“Those guys have come through both of their respective injuries, Al in particularly from a long-term injury. Both are back full training and available for selection in the coming weeks,” Brumbies Head of Performance Health, Byron Field said.
In further news, hooker Lachlan Lonergan has undergone surgery after a fractured and dislocated ankle
“He’s got a long road ahead of him but he’s working hard to be hopefully on the pitch some stage later in 2024," Field added.
The Brumbies are reeling after a 46-7 thumping loss to the Blues, set for a challenge against the undefeated Hurricanes on Saturday in Canberra.
"We just got physically dominated the whole game, really," said Brumbies captain Ryan Lonergan.
"We had no go forward in attack and we couldn't seem to slow their ball down at all, or their momentum in defence.
"We had a few opportunities there, I saw that first 20 minutes in the 'A' zone and we couldn't convert that into points and then, yeah, it was all downhill from there."
