Nic White has a clear thought running through his mind in his build-up to the British & Irish Lions tour.
“Don’t get injured.”
The Force stand-in captain is ready to take his second chance as he leads the side on Saturday at Optus Stadium.
White was named in the preliminary Wallabies squad for the 2013 edition after playing an integral role in the ACT Brumbies' march to the Final, emerging as one of the form halves of Super Rugby.
However, a small fracture in his shoulder meant he sat out a potential Wallabies debut against the combined side, along with the Brumbies' famous tour win in Canberra.
“It’s been on the back of my mind for a long time now, a bit of a decade, so to get this opportunity is a dream come true,” White told reporters.
“Words don’t do it justice but I just need to control the excitement until then... For a long time, I was a bit obsessed with just making sure I was here in Australia to be able to play against the Lions.
"At no point in time did I think that captaining a side was part of my thought process."
White was candid about wanting another shot at the Lions and reflected on the opportunity now that it’s on the horizon.
“Once I missed that series, young and naive, I was like ‘I'm going to play in Australia for the Wallabies for the next 10 years’ and that’s just not a reality, is it.
“I went overseas early and that was always in the back of my mind, but if I had an opportunity to come back to Australia around that time, I'd love to give it another nudge.
“I knew that if I could just play in the Lions as a part of the Super Rugby side is a huge deal and here I am. It really is a pinch me moment.
“A lot of people have these dreams, but for this dream to come true, it's pretty rare and pretty special. A lot of hard work went into it, but also needed a fair bit of luck and a lot of people on my side and a lot of people are in this building and I've got a lot of people to thank for it.”
White will partner Kiwi-born, Australian-eligible Alex Harford in the halves, backed for his second start for the Force.
It comes despite Ben Donaldson's return for the Force, named at fullback following Kurtley Beale’s injury.
“He's been around here for a couple of months now. He knows our systems and structures. He's a really good operator at 10 and the beauty of having the last few weeks training, being able to work on that combination,” he added.
“He's a good game driver, understands rugby really well, understands how we want to play the game and excited to see what he can do.”
