Why Tom Wright’s return from injury is a game-changer for Brumbies

ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham insists that while Tom Wright’s return from injury is “a little bit ahead of schedule” this season, the fullback is raring to go after being named in the run-on side to face the Fijian Drua in Canberra.

Wright didn’t play at all during the first half of the Super Rugby Pacific season, having suffered an ACL injury against the Springboks in Cape Town last August. Following the rehab process, the Wallaby has been back training with the Brumbies for more than one month.

Andy Muirhead held down the fort as the team’s starting fullback across the first nine rounds, but the experienced outside back has shifted to the bench for this weekend’s clash at GIO Stadium, with Wright a headline-grabbing inclusion in the First XV.

RugbyPass recognised Wright as the fourth-best Wallaby in the 2025 Top 100, with the 28-year-old ranked 38^th overall. Will Skelton, Len Ikitau and Fraser McReight were the only Australians higher on the list.

With capped Wallabies Allan Alaalatoa and Lachlan Lonergan returning from injury setbacks in last weekend’s 14-10 win over the Highlanders, the Brumbies are welcoming back another key member of their squad.

“A little bit ahead of schedule but certainly has been training with us for over a month now and has looked exceptionally good out there on the field,” Larkham told reporters.

“He adds a lot of leadership when the ball is in play, in the huddles, in around the meeting space and gives a lot of confidence to the players around him as well.

“Tough challenge for him coming back after so long out and starting but I think there’s benefits both ways, get him in there as soon as possible and not have to wait to come off the bench. Just the leadership and the confidence that he gives to the rest of the playing group from the get-go of the game is going to be good for us.”

But it’s not all good news on the injury front for the Brums, who will be without in-form backrower Charlie Cale for the round 10 showdown. Cale sustained a shoulder injury during last weekend’s match at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Rhys van Nek, Kye Oates and Dan Nelson round out the current list of unavailable players for the Brumbies, who are ranked fourth on the ladder. New Zealand teams occupy the three spots above the Brums, with the Hurricanes leading the way.

“We’re not sure exactly how bad it is at the moment. We’ve had a scan and there is a little bit of damage to the shoulder but we’re just getting further assessment at the moment,” Larkham explained when asked about Clae.

“He’s not right this weekend but we’ll see whether he’ll be available for next weekend or not.

“Getting over to New Zealand and getting a win over there, and then getting home unscathed bar Charlie is a positive,” he added.

“We’ve had good weather and we’re predicted to have good weather for this weekend so it’s going to be a good run into the game.

“There was a lot of disappointment out of our game over in Fiji so we’ve carried that into this week and that’s been reflected in the training intensity.

“It’s going to be a tough ask. They’re very unpredictable and they’ve got some good athletes, certainly what we saw over in Fiji and we’ll make sure that we get a good session in tomorrow and go from there.”