Less than a year after a wall of water ripped through Kamaishi and killed more than 1300 people, Fardy knows he's lucky his rugby dream is alive.

Fardy will be one of six ACT Brumbies making their debut when the season begins at Canberra Stadium against the Western Force tomorrow night.

It's a world away from where Fardy was 11 months ago.

Playing with the Kamaishi Seawaves, Fardy was in his loungeroom on March 11 when an 8.9magnitude earthquake rocked Japan last year.

What followed were waves of up 4.3 metres which demolished the tight-knit Kamaishi village.

''We were safe because we were at the end of the village, but we drove a couple of kilometres down and half the town was under water,'' Fardy said.

''There were about four or five tsunami warnings in the two and half years I was in Japan, but we knew this one was serious.

''Cars and houses were just floating away … it puts everything in perspective.

''I get the chance to come back here and play. I was happy in Japan, but there was always something that bugged me that I wanted to come back and have a crack at Super Rugby.

''You want to come back and have a crack because after seeing what I saw you know one day it could all be over pretty damn quickly.''

It's fitting the Brumbies begin their campaign against the Force tomorrow.

Before Fardy went to Japan to play for the Seawaves, he was part of the Force academy squad but could never make it into Super Rugby.

Now he has a chance to make the Force pay for letting him go.

The 27-year-old is part of the Brumbies' extended player squad and is only eligible to be selected in Jake White's squad because Colby Faingaa is injured.

He's been waiting for his chance to play at the top level since he was a young star coming through the junior NSW ranks.

The time he spent on the outer has made him more desperate to cement his spot in the Brumbies.

And it was his stint in Japan which provided the launching pad to help him win a spot in the raw Brumbies squad.

Fardy still remembers sitting in his apartment when it started shaking violently as the earthquake hit last year.

He spent a week without power, heating or hot water in freezing temperatures.

Fardy lost almost 7kg from his 113kg and 198cm frame as food was rationed.

The easy decision would have been to pack his bags and come home.

But after a career of doing it the hard way, Fardy wanted to make a difference.

Fardy and his Seawaves teammates wanted to help so they volunteered to help clean up the community.

They unpacked supply trucks and helped anyone who needed assistance.

''I don't know whether it's changed me … It's tough, but the thing I got out of it is you see the good in people,'' Fardy said. ''Some people had nothing, but they were coming and asking me whether I had enough food.

''They were struggling and were worse off than I was … people lost their homes and restaurants, but they were checking on me.

''After everything that happened, I've got lifelong friends there and I definitely want to go back at some stage.

''It's a rugby town and if we had left, there wouldn't be much there … we wanted to stay together and hopefully we helped lift everyone spirits.''

The Japan second division team failed to make the finals in its ''emotional season'', but Brumbies captain Ben Mowen says there's a new fire burning in Fardy.

''This is the fittest I've ever seen him … I've played with Scott all the way through [juniors] and this is by far the most motivated I've ever seen him and he's performing well,'' Mowen said.