The Brumbies have stamped themselves as Super Rugby title contenders, bursting out of the blocks to smash the Sharks 29-10 in Durban.
The win was the Brumbies seventh in a row on the road, giving them the record for the most consecutive away wins in Super Rugby history.
The Brumbies are now well out in front on the Super Rugby ladder, having won four from four and the only team still undefeated this year.
Coach Jake White’s team ran onto Kings Park Stadium like a team possessed, launching wave after wave in attack to tire out the Sharks and rack up the four try bonus point in just 34 minutes.
Big No.8 Fotu Auelua, openside flanker George Smith and captain Ben Mowen made metres almost every time they trucked the ball up with direct running.
But it wasn’t just in attack that the Brumbies pushed forward, with their rush defence putting the Sharks on the backfoot throughout the match and Smith creating absolute havoc at the breakdown.
Halfback Nic White suffered a head knock in the first tackle of the match and was soon replaced by Ian Prior, who was sensational in directing the flow of the play and providing runners with wide, flat passes.
Fly-half Matt Toomua and Christian Lealiifano both had outstanding games, with former Sevens player Tevita Kuridrani providing additional flair at outside centre.
The Brumbies started in the best possible way, patiently working the ball up the field and not making a single error before fullback Jesse Mogg went over in the fifth minute.
They continued their expansive, error free rugby to send Joe Tomane over in the corner to lead by 12 points in as many minutes.
Man-of-the-match Auelua was extremely dominant in the first half, sucking in three defenders in the direct build up to the first two tries to create overlaps on both occasions.
A tackle fatigued sharks forward pack then lost a centre-field tighthead scrum in the 34th minute, with Toomua catching the blindside defence offguard and throwing a looping cut out pass to Henry Speight to bring up the four-try bonus point.
Heavy rain fell at half time, stifling the Brumbies expansive gameplan and also leading to an increase in errors while making it extremely difficult for the Sharks to make up the deficit.
The Sharks improved on their first half performance, with captain Keegan Daniel leading the way with the only try of the second half in the 51st minute.