Brumby answers the call after neck surgery as Larkham rings changes

McInerney has been cleared to return just in time for a Brumbies outfit which was staring down the barrel of a depth crisis at hooker ahead of a clash with the NSW Waratahs at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.

Lachlan Lonergan has undergone surgery for a fractured and dislocated ankle suffered in a hip-drop tackle against Queensland last week which sparked calls for the tackle technique to be banned.

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham was considering sending an SOS to lure scrum coach John Ulugia out of retirement with his hooking stocks thinning.

But with Billy Pollard propelled into the starting XV, 29-year-old McInerney has joined the bench to become one of three new faces in Larkham's side to face the Waratahs after undergoing neck surgery four months ago.

Prop Fred Kaihea and flyhalf Jack Debreczini join the Test-capped hooker on the bench for the first time this season.

Tom Hooper and Nick Frost return to the Brumbies' starting line-up in James Slipper's milestone match, with the veteran prop set to surpass Stephen Moore as Australia's most-capped Super Rugby player in his 178^th appearance.

The Brumbies enter as favourites against the 10th-placed Waratahs, who have dropped their past four games by a collective margin of just 13 points with questions hovering over the future of coach Darren Coleman.

Meanwhile, the Brumbies can go a long way towards securing a Super Rugby Women's finals berth if they can beat the Fijian Drua in the first match of Saturday's double-header at Canberra Stadium.

The Brumbies are level on nine competition points with the Drua and the Western Force - the two sides the ACT will face in the final two rounds.

It means the Brumbies have destiny in their own hands as they chase a finals berth - but whether anyone can run down the competition-leading NSW Waratahs remains to be seen, having blitzed every rival to date.