But Stephen Larkham will keep the star tighthead prop on ice for at least one more week as the Brumbies prepare to fly to Auckland to face the Blues at Eden Park on Saturday.

Sosefo Kautai will start at tighthead prop with Rhys van Nek coming off the bench against the second-placed Blues with the pieces beginning to fall into place for the Brumbies.

Next week's clash with the unbeaten Hurricanes at Canberra Stadium could serve as Alaalatoa's comeback game, with the next two games to play a pivotal role in deciding the make-up of the competition ladder.

Alaalatoa has been sidelined since rupturing his Achilles during a Bledisloe Cup game against New Zealand last July, which dashed his World Cup hopes and forced him into a support role to start the Super Rugby Pacific season.

But the sight of the 30-year-old ripping and tearing at Brumbies training is a welcome sight for teammates desperate to welcome the world-class prop into the mix for the finals race.

"It's exciting. It's going to be good to have him back. He's a world class prop, you can't go past someone like Allan," van Nek said.

"What he brings around the team, what he brings at training, his energy off the field and on the field, it reminds me of what a world-class tighthead prop is.

"His mindset, how he goes about his business, worries about his job, gets his stuff done, and also leads the team and makes crucial decisions at crucial times, it's gun to have him back.

"We are in a good spot at the moment. We're still building though. We're learning lessons each week. Obviously against the Chiefs we learnt a big lesson with our physicality, and every week we're growing something different. Every week we've got a different focus point.

"It's just really pleasing we're not taking steps backwards. We're taking steps forwards in the right direction. We're not having to re-learn things, the intensity at training has been unreal, the physicality at training has been perfect."

Loosehead prop Blake Schoupp returns to the bench for his first appearance since round four after being sidelined with a shoulder injury, with James Slipper leading from the front.

Scrumhalf Ryan Lonergan will take the captaincy reins in his return to the starting side, which is also bolstered by Cadeyrn Neville at lock and Jahrome Brown at flanker.

Declan Meredith has been left out as Larkham opts for a six-two split on the bench at Eden Park, where the Blues are unbeaten in their past nine appearances.

The Brumbies are still hoping to welcome Alaalatoa, outside centre Len Ikitau and winger Andy Muirhead into the fold over the coming weeks, while fellow winger Ben O'Donnell - whose bright start to the 2023 season was dashed by an anterior cruciate ligament tear - is edging closer to a club rugby return in the John I Dent Cup.

"[Alaalatoa] trained with us yesterday. He was not getting tackled and going flat out, in typical Allan fashion. You know he's back now, so I'm really looking forward to him getting some game time now," Brumbies hooker Billy Pollard said.

"We've got Al, Lenny and Andy all coming back. They'll be massive boosts for our team, not only from a footy perspective but also just mentally in terms of refreshing everyone and bringing that energy back.

"We're in that part of the season where it gets a bit tiring I suppose, so we're really looking forward to them, especially big Al. He's looking massive at the moment."