Injured Wallabies Nic White and Scott Sio admit the lure of a home Test against Argentina is motivating their return ahead of the Rugby Championship.
Rugby Australia confirmed the Rugby Championship finale will be held at GIO Stadium on October 2, ending a near four-year drought without Test football in the nation's capital.
Get your tickets now for the deciding Test as the Wallabies face France!
This has provided extra motivation for the Brumbies pair after White (knee) and Sio (hamstring) were ruled out of the French series.
The Brumbies scrumhalf confirmed he was out of a brace after suffering an MCL injury, revealing he was ahead of schedule as he looks to reclaim his Wallabies jersey.
“I came out of the brace yesterday,” White told reporters on Wednesday I don’t like to put an end date on things because if they say a certain amount of weeks, I’ll try and rush it back sooner.
“I’ll leave it open-end and see how quickly I can get back. It’s tracking better than they thought so if I can keep heading that way, we’ll see how it guys."
Meanwhile, Sio, who returned to the squad after missing the initial camp, was remaining ready to go as he pushes for a recall.
“I didn’t know I could go faster with age but it seems to be the case,” Sio joked. “It’s coming along well, I’ve got my good friend Nic and we’re battling along in rehab down in cold Canberra.
“I’m just trying to plug away as best as I can to make sure if I do get the opportunity to re-join the squad, I’m ready to go.
“Rehab’s an interesting one, you’ve just got to make sure you are in the best physical and mental shape to perform at the end of the day. If my number is called, I’m ready to go.”
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With the Test match locked in, White admits the lure of playing in his adopted Rugby home was something that would motivate himself and the rest of the Brumbies to lock up their spot in the Wallabies side for October 2.
“It’s a huge carrot to get back into the squad and get a jersey because if we can get in there, there’s a big game on October 2 down here in Canberra,” White added.
“It’s a place that’s pretty special to me, gave me my opportunity straight out of school. I consider it my home.
“I’d never thought I play a Test match here, to be honest. I thought to be able to pull on the Brumbies jersey and play was very special and then to play for the Wallabies, there’s not many Test down here so it’s very special.
“There will be a lot of Brumbies guys in the squad that are circling that week to make sure they’re going to leave no stone unturned. The pull on the jersey and play for the Wallabies is special but to play at a place like GIO which is so special to us, it’d be quite a night.”
