Mowen also says White "made my career" and that he will be eternally thankful for the role White played in turning the 29-year-old from Super Rugby player to Wallabies captain in less than two years.

Former Brumbies coach White will return to Canberra on Saturday for the first time since quitting halfway through his ACT contract to start a new job with the Durban Sharks in South Africa.

Mowen will also leave the Brumbies at the end of the Super Rugby season to start a three-year deal with French club Montpellier.

It's unclear whether Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie will pick Mowen for the three Test series against France next month despite Mowen's impending departure.

White said on Thursday Mowen should be left out of the squad and Mowen agrees.

"He [White] is probably thinking along the same lines as myself. I've said all along that I don't think guys who take themselves out of reckoning for a World Cup squad should be taking spots up," Mowen said.

"You need to really be building a squad up and giving guys experience that you're going to use at the World Cup.

"I'm not going to be there so I tend to agree with [White]."

White will lead the Sharks into battle against the Brumbies at Canberra Stadium in a top of the table Super Rugby blockbuster.

Mowen joked he was surprised at White's decision to base the Sharks in Sydney instead of Canberra after spending the past two years "telling us that it's the worst thing you can do".

White quit the Brumbies in October last year, just two months after narrowly losing the Super Rugby grand final.

The World Cup-winning mentor met with Mowen and five Brumbies players who were in Cape Town for the Wallabies Rugby Championship campaign in an attempt to explain his decision.

It was met with "confrontation, acceptance and friendship" as the players questioned White's decision and commitment after seeing out just two years of his four-year contract.

Mowen's initial reaction was to talk White out of the move and convince him to stay on.

But that quickly changed, Mowen insisting there is no lingering angst and declaring the players have a "massive point to prove" when White returns.

"When you've had a mentor like Jake, there's a desire to show him how much you've grown without him," Mowen said.

"There's a massive point to prove as a group, it's not spiteful but just to show we have evolved. Friendships get put on the backburner for 80 minutes."

Mowen was a shock selection as Brumbies captain when White started his coaching tenure in the 2012 campaign.

But the decision proved a masterstroke as he led the Brumbies into the finals for the first time since 2004 and earned the Wallabies captaincy duties last year.

"Jake made my career, he instilled a massive hit of self-belief, he did a lot for me and for that I am eternally thankful.

"No one was expecting me to captain the Brumbies when I came down here, but Jake was adamant I was going to be the bloke and he backed me. All of my leadership skills belong to him."

The Brumbies have been determined to avoid distractions this week as they prepare for the clash with the Sharks.

White's return was always going to be the major talking point after he led a team of "no-names" to the Super Rugby grand final last year.

However, his return has created mixed emotions at the Brumbies. Some players still haven't spoken to White.

Scrumhalf Nic White said the game was a chance to show how much the Brumbies had evolved since Jake White's departure.

"As a team we are very different to last year, we have a different feeling and I think that's because of experience," Nic White said.

"But the proof is in the pudding. Where we finish [the season] is where we'll be judged. We're certainly moving forward and I feel like we have evolved.

"I like to think we're not as predictable as we once were. We're not smashing our heads against a brick wall, we're more efficient and finding smarter ways to go through."