BRISBANE - Jake White believes his red-hot Brumbies have learned from their harsh lessons of 2012 after taking a stranglehold of the Australian conference by making Super Rugby history on Sunday.
Thanks to the ACT club's best first-half display since their memorable 2004 final rout of the Crusaders, the Brumbies smashed the Sharks 29-10 at Durban's Kings Park to be the only unbeaten team left after five rounds.
It was also their seventh straight win on the road - breaking the record for the competition's longest away streak.
The Brumbies (23) sit six points clear at the top of the table ahead of the defending champion Chiefs, while they're 10 in front of the Queensland Reds in the Australian conference.
But former Springboks coach White, who astutely made five changes for the Sharks clash, expects his team to cope well with the extra pressure after being run down by the Reds in the final round last season.
"It's something we are used to," he told AAP. "We were (Australian) frontrunners for all of last year.
"It makes no difference how long you're in the lead - it's whether you finish in front.
"The lesson we learned last year will hopefully bode us well in the next few weeks."
With barnstorming No.8 Fotu Auelua running amok, the Brumbies had the four-try bonus point wrapped up in the 35th minute against the 2012 runners-up who had no match for the visitors' intensity.
Five-eighth Matt Toomua was also a star, scoring their third try and setting up the fourth, as the Brumbies became the first Australian team to celebrate a Durban victory in four years.
But there are concerns over in-form fullback Jesse Mogg (shoulder) heading into next weekend's clash with the Stormers in Cape Town.