They traded barbs from opposite sides of the rugby trenches but are now working hand in glove to give the Wallabies a winning edge leading into the World Cup.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has hired the Brumbies' former fitness guru Dean Benton, who once took aim at the Waratahs' work ethic and was forced to eat his words months later.
Benton, credited with a pivotal role in the Brumbies' transformation from battlers to Super Rugby runners-up from 2011 to 2013, is the Wallabies' new strength and conditioning consultant.
Tasked with overseeing the year-round fitness programs of the country's top players, Benton will work closely with Cheika, the Super Rugby coaches and their athletic development managers to keep Wallabies players in peak condition in the crucial five-month lead-up to Australia's toughest ever World Cup campaign.
It was not exactly a union written in the stars.
Just seven months ago Cheika was delighting in Benton's karmic comeuppance. The Waratahs had overrun the Brumbies 39-8 on their march to a maiden Super Rugby title and the NSW coach revealed his secret motivational weapon had been a triumphant barb from Benton in the wake of an earlier Brumbies victory.
"BRUMBIES!!! ANOTHER case of hard work beating talent when talent WON'T work hard#rugby," Benton posted on Twitter after the Brumbies' round five win.
The strength and conditioning consultant had moved on from the Brumbies a few months earlier but made clear his allegiances. Cheika never mentioned the insult but pulled it out four months later when Australian conference honours were on the line.
"We certainly used that tonight as a challenge on our integrity," Cheika said after the round 17 win. "That [fitness and work ethic] is something we want to be proud of this year and it was something that really motivated us."
Benton was willing to eat humble pie, posting after the victory that he was "happy to be proven wrong for the betterment & motivation of Australian rugby".
It was that attitude, as well as Benton's standing globally in the field of athletic development, that convinced Cheika to approach him about joining the Wallabies.
"We have a four month window here from the start of Super Rugby and the end, to get players in the best possible shape we can," Cheika said on Wednesday.
"Even small gains are valuable, and I think Dean's the perfect guy to be in that space right now. He knows a lot of the players, he knows how to get athletic gain in guys, and from the stuff he's done already he's got excellent rapport with the different coaches and the different S&C coaches."
If the pair can pull off their audacious plan, it will mean the end of Super Rugby teams acting at cross-purposes to the Wallabies when it comes to the management of Australia's top players.
Instead of tension over a player's workload, the Wallabies and the province will agree early on when a player such as Israel Folau, Quade Cooper or David Pocock will rest and how their fitness will be managed throughout the Super Rugby season and beyond.
Cheika's dual role as Wallabies and Waratahs coach will help him pull it off, as will the high regard in which Benton is held around the provinces.
"It's about trying to co-ordinate a year-round management of the player," the Wallabies coach said.
"That means respecting the space of the bosses at each province and respecting what they've got to say, then them respecting what he's got to say for the other part of the season, and then putting it all together so I can go to a player and say 'right, here's your plan for the year.' "
As for the pair's colourful history, Cheika walked away with the victory, but also with newfound respect for Benton's passion.
"As all coaches will do, we use whatever we can [to motivate]," he said.
"And that's part of the deal, if you believe in something, you go out there and say it. It doesn't mean you can't then change your mind later, and with Dean there was [the] courage to say things."
