That same room erupted into cheers and applause the moment he was handed his first Brumbies jersey, with Tucker in line for a Super Rugby AU debut against the Melbourne Rebels at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

It marks a major turnaround in fortunes after ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments kept him to just five Super Rugby caps during stints at the Waikato Chiefs and Auckland Blues.

Tucker will start on the bench in round three as he looks to make the most of a rugby lifeline handed to him by coach Dan McKellar and Brumbies general manager Chris Tindall, who was high performance manager at the Chiefs during Tucker's time at the New Zealand-based club.

"He has faced a lot of adversity in the past," Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa said.

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"We heard some touching stories from his parents and [partner] Courtney before we came out to captain's run and what it meant to him and for their family to see him put on the jersey, and to play footy, the game that he loves, again.

"He's a good man, obviously been around at a few clubs. I think he is the same age as me, I thought he was a bit older.

"He carries on a bit at training, holds onto a bit of niggle, but he is obviously experienced. He has been in some world class teams over in New Zealand, so to have him come down and add his experience into our youthful group has been really good.

"He is someone who has really deserved his opportunity off the bench, he has been playing well for the Runners and really driving standards at training. Looking forward to seeing him add an impact off the bench."

Tucker will come off the bench with Cadeyrn Neville and Darcy Swain to start at lock, while Scott Sio makes his return at the expense of prop James Slipper.

The Brumbies veteran injured his knee at training this week with the club sweating on scan results which could keep him sidelined for a chunk of the Super Rugby AU season.

The return of Sio is timely with Alaalatoa preparing for a tough battle up front.

"They've got some on-ball threats, obviously their back-row are all experienced and get a lot of penalties for their team," Alaalataoa said.

"That's a tactic they had for many years, so we've just got to make sure we understand our process and how we can counter that, which is something we've gone through throughout the whole week."

SUPER RUGBY AU ROUND THREE

Saturday: ACT Brumbies v Melbourne Rebels at Canberra Stadium, 7.45pm. Broadcast: Live on Gem and Stan Sport. Tickets from Ticketek.

ACT Brumbies squad: 1. Scott Sio, 2. Connal McInerney, 3. Allan Alaalatoa (c), 4. Darcy Swain, 5. Cadeyrn Neville, 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Jahrome Brown, 8. Pete Samu, 9. Nic White, 10. Noah Lolesio, 11. Mack Hansen, 12. Irae Simone, 13. Len Ikitau, 14. Andy Muirhead, 15. Tom Banks. Replacements: 16. Lachlan Lonergan, 17. Harry Lloyd, 18. Tom Ross, 19. James Tucker, 20. Tom Cusack, 21. Ryan Lonergan, 22. Reesjan Pasitoa, 23. Solomone Kata.

Melbourne Rebels squad: 1. Cabous Eloff, 2. James Hanson, 3. Pone Fa'amausili, 4. Ross Haylett-Petty, 5. Trevor Hosea, 6. Joshua Kemeny, 7. Richard Hardwick, 8. Michael Wells, 9. Joe Powell, 10. Matt To'omua, 11. Marika Koroibete, 12. Reece Hodge, 13. Stacey Ili, 14. Lachlan Anderson, 15. Tom Pincus. Replacements: 16. Ed Craig, 17. Isaac Aedo Kailea, 18. Lucio Sordoni, 19. Steve Cummins, 20. Robert Leota, 21. James Tuttle/Brad Wilkin/Tom Nowlan (TBC), 22. Frank Lomani, 23. Glen Vaihu.

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