Cult hero Cummins, also known as The Honey Badger, will play his first game of the season when the Force take on the ACT Brumbies at Canberra Stadium.

It marks his return from a stint in Japan and is the start of his bid to win World Cup selection at the end of the year.

Western Force coach Foley said last year that Australian rugby had been "caught with its pants down" when Cummins signed a deal with the Coca Cola West Red Sparks at the end of the Super Rugby season.

But after the Red Sparks agreed to a deal which will revive his World Cup dream,Foley believes Cummins will "tear in" and add the physical edge which has been missing from the Force's past two matches.

"I remember the first time I saw him when he was back and he looked genuinely thrilled," Foley said.

"It's a really nice thing for a guy with a big profile earning a lot of money in Japan. He brings an enormous amount of enthusiasm and you often don't look at a winger who's strong in the contact area.

"But he, in some ways, inspires that go forward in the team. Nick hasn't played for a long time, he's had that ankle [injury]. We just expect him to go out there and tear in, everyone is excited to have him back. He makes you smile, he's a ratbag in a good way.

"But in contrast, you can't get anyone more committed than he is."

Cummins' World Cup credentials will be put in the spotlight immediately when the 15-Test winger goes up against his Wallabies replacement, Henry Speight.

It's also doubles as a chance to impress new Wallabies back line coach Stephen Larkham.

"The lure of the World Cup is pretty big and when you go overseas you appreciate playing for Australia even more," said Brumbies boss Larkham.

"[Speight and Cummins] are slightly different, but both very aggressive when they get the ball. The real strength of Nick Cummins' game is that it doesn't matter who's in front of him, he runs hard."

Cummins had surgery to remove a floating piece of bone in his left ankle, which has kept him on the sidelines for the past six weeks.

He was released from his ARU contract a year early at the end of last season on compassionate grounds to earn bigger bucks in Japan to provide for sick family members.

The 27-year-old walked out of Canberra Stadium in July last year not knowing if he would ever play in Australia again after the Brumbies belted the Force 47-25, ending their finals hopes and Cummins' Force contract.

But Foley said negotiations to try to lure Cummins back to the club started immediately after that loss.

"There has been a lot of work done ... it started the next day after that game and it was only until the last couple of months that we realised it was actually going to happen," Foley said.

"We planned for it not to happen as a team because we had to. But he was committed to coming back, we chased him but he chased us [as well] which was nice."