Pocock also revealed he phoned Waikato Chiefs' No. 8 Michael Leitch to say sorry for grabbing him around the neck when trying to stop a maul in their clash at Canberra Stadium.

Almost a month later Pocock will make his comeback as one of six new faces when the Brumbies play the Otago Highlanders in Invercargill on Saturday night.

The silver lining in his absence was that the time away from rugby gave him a chance to heal a broken hand after playing through pain since March.

Pocock took the rare step of posting a public apology after SANZAAR slapped him with a two-match ban after a record loss to the Chiefs.

In the apology, he said so to Leitch, his Brumbies teammates because he was missing two of the biggest games of the season, and then sincerely thanked those who suspended him.

Pocock said he didn't realise he had grabbed Leitch until he was told after the match.

"I did the wrong thing. Intent doesn't really matter in those situations where it's dangerous play," Pocock said in New Zealand.

"I was disappointed by my actions and I don't want to see that in the game. I guess you've got to put yourself in Michael Leitch's position – I'd be pretty annoyed if that happened to me.

"I had a couple of chats with him and he was fine so that was good. But I still felt like it was important to apologise when you're wrong, and I was clearly in the wrong.

"It wasn't good enough, it's clearly something that we don't want in rugby so I was pretty disappointed with it."

Pocock's admirable post sent social media into a spin with few players taking ownership the way the Wallabies' openside flanker did. It was the first time in his career he had been suspended.

His return is a huge boost for the Brumbies as they aim to end a month of indifferent form to stabilise their Super Rugby hopes.

Pocock's presence is even more important given the absence of co-captain Stephen Moore, who will miss the clash against the defending champion Highlanders after suffering a calf injury last week.

The Brumbies have lost two of their past three games and have struggled to maintain any momentum over the past six weeks.

Pocock broke his hand in the Brumbies' loss to the Cape Town Stormers in South Africa but played the next two games despite being hindered by the injury.

When he was suspended, it gave him a three-week window of limited rugby to help him recover.

"You've just got to play your role as best as you can and contribute as much as you can [when you come back]," Pocock said.

"You don't help anyone when you're trying to do too much. I guess you get back into the rhythm and find your spot.

"It's a team game and you're tight with your teammates. You want to support them as much as you can … I used the time off to let the hand heal properly. I guess you've got to find positives and it did give the hand time to heal."

Pocock, Ruan Smith, Josh Mann-Rea, Allan Alaalatoa, Tom Staniforth and Nigel Ah Wong have been injected into the Brumbies' starting team after a record loss to the Canterbury Crusaders last weekend.

Injuries to Moore and Joseph Tomane forced coach Stephen Larkham's hand with two changes while Pocock is back and the rest are a rotation to spark the team.

Moore's absence will elevate Christian Lealiifano to sole captain with Pocock to play a massive role as a leader in the pack.

"It doesn't change anything, there are enough leaders in the group with Poey back, [Scott Fardy] and Matt Toomua there as well," Lealiifano said.

"It's a huge honour to run the team out, but we're just focused on getting the result."

Pocock said the Brumbies weren't feeling pressure after falling out of top spot in the Australian conference.

"The effort has been there … errors have been the difference. They were a tough couple of games to watch but that's how it goes sometimes.

"We're not getting bogged down in stats or anything. For us, the important thing is getting our preparation right. It is the period of season where guys are out with injury, every team has that. It's about finding the best way of dealing with that.

"In terms of the Brumbies being judged on our on-field performances, we're the ones out there and we're working as hard as we can to get the results."

SUPER RUGBY ROUND 10

Saturday: Otago Highlanders v ACT Brumbies at Invercargill, New Zealand, 5.30pm (AEST). TV time: Live on Fox Sports 2.

Brumbies team: 15. Aidan Toua, 14. Robbie Coleman, 13. Tevita Kuridrani, 12. Matt Toomua, 11. Nigel Ah Wong, 10. Christian Lealiifano, 9. Tomas Cubelli, 8. Jarrad Butler, 7. David Pocock, 6. Scott Fardy, 5. Sam Carter, 4. Tom Staniforth, 3. Ruan Smith, 2. Josh Mann-Rea, 1. Allan Alaalatoa. Reserves: 16, Robbie Abel, 17. Scott Sio, 18. Leslie Leuluaialii-Makin, 19. Rory Arnold, 20. Blake Enever, 21. Jordan Smiler, 22. Joe Powell, 23. James Dargaville.