Most know Brad Thorn as the hard-nosed, uncompromising former World Cup-winner and dual international. Lachlan McCaffrey knows him as a quasi landlord and furniture salesman.
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Three years after Thorn sold his furniture and transferred his lease in Leicester to McCaffrey, the pair are set to go head to head at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
McCaffrey is expected to be added to the Brumbies' starting XV on Wednesday when coach Dan McKellar names his side for the clash against the Thorn-coached Queensland Reds.
McCaffrey is set to replace Rob Valetini, who injured his knee last weekend and is expected to miss up to 10 weeks after surgery to repair medial ligament damage.
Lock Blake Enever is also back in selection contention, but McKellar will likely keep a stable team for the opening two games of the year.
McCaffrey's chance to step into the blindside flanker role sets the stage for another meeting with Thorn, after the pair crossed paths in England.
McCaffrey, one of 11 children in his family, had just signed for the Leicester Tigers and Thorn was leaving to return to Australia when the pair struck a deal.
"I don't remember playing against him ... I reckon he's the sort of guy I would remember, too," McCaffrey said.
"In rugby there's a great network and Phil Blake and Brad Thorn helped me get set up in Leicester at his old house. I bought all of [Thorn's] furniture off him.
"My 10 siblings and mum and dad were coming over to visit. If I didn't get that furniture, they would have been sleeping on the floor.
"He gave me mates rates on the furniture ... about seven or eight mattresses so that helped out with the crew coming over.
"From what I know of [Thorn], he's straight up and leads up example. I know he did that at training, ripping in and warming up before anyone else."
Thorn has the massive task of turning the Reds around and rebuilding the club. But their start to the year has been plagued by injuries and suspensions.
Scott Higginbotham has been banned for three weeks, Lukhan Tui is expected to suffer a similar fate, Karmichael Hunt is still not available for selection and Quade Cooper has been banished to club rugby.
But the Brumbies are on high alert for a Reds ambush after they were belted by the Melbourne Rebels last weekend.
They'll go into the clash without teenager Valetini, whose rise through the ranks hit its first hurdle 20 minutes into his Super Rugby debut.
He damaged his knee and the Brumbies are waiting until after surgery before getting a clearer timeframe of when he will return to rugby.
The 19-year-old is already being watched by Wallabies coach Michael Chieka, but will miss between six and eight weeks.
McCaffrey is back in Super Rugby for the first time since 2014 after a stint in England, but scored with his first touch in his Brumbies comeback last weekend and helped set up a try for Tom Banks.
He is expected to join Tom Cusack and Isi Naisarani to form the Brumbies' back-row combination.
"It will be a tough test [in Brisbane] ... it's always is against the Reds," McCaffrey said.
"It was unfortunate that young Rob got injured early, he had a good pre-season and it's sad to see young, future stars injured.
"I enjoyed my time [in England], there are a lot of areas I think I can improve on. I definitely think I'm a better player now than when I left [four years ago]."
SUPER RUGBY ROUND TWO
Friday: Queensland Reds v ACT Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium. TV time: Live on Fox Sports
