Henry Speight shocked teammates after breaking his jaw in two places against the Waratahs last weekend, refusing painkillers so he could watch the rest of the match, joining the team victory song, giving a speech for his milestone 50th game, then driving himself to hospital for surgery.

Speight turned up at Brumbies training on Friday, less than 48 hours after having his second operation this week – involving  three metal plates and eight screws – to aid a six-week recovery process.

It was perfectly timed inspiration for the injury-hit Brumbies, who will have eight players out of action for the clash against the Stormers on Saturday night.

Speight broke his jaw in two places in the first half against the Waratahs last weekend.

Medical staff offered him painkillers on the condition he went straight to hospital. But the Fijian flyer wanted to stay at Canberra Stadium to watch the rest of the game.

After watching the win, and attempting to sing the team victory song, Speight delivered a speech to teammates telling them how "gutsy" their performance had been.

"I had too much pride to come off the field, I thought I had just lost a tooth," Speight said.

"I told the medical guys the least I can do [for my teammates] is watch the rest of the game in my 50th, and the guys got the win.

"I tried to sing the song but there was nothing coming out. I just wanted to do a speech to thank the boys for how they finished the game, that was really gutsy.

"But they said it was about time I spilled some blood on the jersey, it took me 50 games."

Speight can only eat liquids for the next two weeks before progressing to "mushy food" for a month as he waits to make his comeback at the end of April.

Wallabies captains Ben Mowen and David Pocock rate Speight as one of the toughest players they have ever seen.

In 2012, Speight played through most of the season with a knee injury. After one game, medical staff drained 13 syringes of fluid off his knee and then Speight played the next week.

As Speight prepares for his longest stint on the sideline in his four Super Rugby seasons, Pocock said the try-scoring star was destined for Test honours.

Speight will be eligible for Wallabies selection in September after a drawn-out saga with the International Rugby Board, which finally cleared him to represent Australia.

"[Henry] is honestly one of the nicest guys I've ever played alongside. He's quiet, but funny," Pocock said.

"He doesn't have an arrogant bone in his body, guys love having him around and that sums him up.

"In his 50th, he broke his jaw and was still cracking jokes. He was sitting in recovery, you could see he was sore and he turns to me and says: 'at least I can say my 50th was a cracker of a game'.

"He's a special guy. When he gets back fit and healthy, I'd like to see him in a Wallabies jumper. It's been a long-time coming."

Speight was back at training on Friday, joking with his Brumbies teammates.

"I got some good tips and soup recipes off Stephen Moore, it made my morning," Speight said.

"Bernie [coach Stephen Larkham] said to come down and it's good to see the boys."

Of course, there are other Super Rugby ironmen who will go into battle at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.

Brumbies centre Pat McCabe has broken his neck twice since November 2012 and feared he had broken it again earlier this month.

Stormers superstar Schalk Burger has played just three games in two years, and almost died from a bacterial meningitis infection.

"Henry, you can see in the way he plays, he has thrown a lot of challenges out to wingers," Mowen said.

"He spoke about what it means to him to be a Brumby and he does it for his family, guys like that set the tone for your club. That's Henry, he's a tough bugger."