Toomua joined his teammates in returning to Canberra yesterday, dejected their Super 14 campaign was over but excited about the future.

It was only a month ago Toomua was battling to earn a spot on the ACT Brumbies' bench.Since then, he has become one of the most recognisable youngsters in Australian rugby.

His profile rose firstly as a result of his close relationship with Shawn Mackay and secondly due to his sudden appearance and domination on the rugby pitch.

Toomua received rave reviews for his stunning performance at flyhalf for the Brumbies in their 37-15 win over the Auckland Blues eight days ago.

And even in a losing team in Hamilton on Friday night, he earned the right to hold his head high with another solid performance at pivot.

With the exception of his final input into the match Toomua failed to find touch with a penalty kick that would have given his team one final chance at stealing a win in the dying seconds the 19-year-old impressed.

''There's always things I can improve on but overall I was pretty happy,'' Toomua said.

''It wasn't that long ago I was watching it all from the stands, Christian [Lealiifano] was playing awesome rugby and I was doing everything I could to support him.

''Then when he got injured he thought I was ready to step up and I thought I was ready to step up and it's been a pretty crazy four or six weeks, both on and off the field I guess.

For more, pick up a copy of today's Canberra Times