After being overlooked for the Wallabies World Cup and Rugby Championship squads, ACT Brumbies prop Ben Alexander will start on the bench in the Canberra Vikings' first match of the National Rugby Championship on Saturday.
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On Thursday the Vikings named their line-up to take on NSW Country Eagles in Sydney, with Alexander's benching the big surprise.
Meanwhile, the Eagles will be without Brumbies' halfback Michael Dowsett, who looks likely to miss the remainder of the season after dislocating his shoulder in training on Monday.
Sam Carter will also be a notable absentee from the Eagles side, the Brumbies lock expected to join the Wallabies side to play the USA in Chicago on September 5.
The Vikings have close to a full-strength side, and Brad Harris, who will be coaching his first game at this level, said the decision to name Wallabies veteran Alexander on the bench came down to giving others an opportunity in the second-tier competition.
"There were some tough selections when we sat down to decide on the starting team," he said.
"[Alexander] has probably had a bit of a disrupted preparation with us, he was away for that Barbarians game in Japan, but on the flip side of that ... we have two really gifted young props in Les Makin and Allan Alaalatoa, and this NRC is about giving them more game time than what they probably have in Super Rugby," he said.
"This week those guys will start the game and Benny A will come on at some stage and finish the game off for us."
Harris believes next month's World Cup is still not completely out of reach for the 30-year-old, who he says has been setting the standard and "leading by example" at the club.
"He's only an injury or two away [from a World Cup call up] and that's the beauty of having the World Cup around at this time, it keeps those guys [on the periphery] hungry to play, and also perform.
The match will kick off the season for the Vikings, having had a bye in round one, while NSW Country are coming off a one-point win against the Greater Sydney Rams.
Brumbies' Ita Vaea will line up against the side he made his rugby resurgence with last year, after his career was in doubt following life-threatening blood clots on his heart.
"It feels like for ages since Super Rugby, our loss in the semi-final but I'm very keen to get back out there and play," he said, noting he was feeling fit and ready to go after a four week pre-season.
While Vaea confessed to not having much insight into this season's Eagles line-up, Harris said his value was on the field.
"This time last year we were preparing to play against him, so it's great to have him in our squad ... he's a real point-of-difference player for us in terms of his physical aggression and his ability to win collision zones, so the boys will lift playing with him," he said.
