It is no coincidence that White and Toomua re-signed with the Brumbies within 24 hours of each other, the pair having talked extensively about maintaining their burgeoning combination as the Brumbies strive to win their first Super Rugby title since 2004, when Larkham and Gregan were calling the shots.

White, 23, has extended his commitment to the end of 2016, while Toomua, 24, turned down interest from the Melbourne Rebels and overseas to re-sign with the Brumbies until the end of 2017.

Having lived together when they first arrived in Canberra, White and Toomua both made their international debuts with the Wallabies last year. Larkham has endorsed Toomua as one of the best defensive five-eighths in the game, declaring he should be picked for the Wallabies ahead of Queensland's Quade Cooper.

Rather than shy away from comparisons to Gregan and Larkham, one of the greatest Australian halves partnerships in history, White said he and Toomua aspired to forge a similar combination.

''Greegs [Gregan] has been down here quite a bit lately, you see the way [he and Larkham] talk and me and Matty want to progress ... we've known each other since we left school, we've both been down here, we've got that relationship on and off the field. It's not something [Larkham] has spoken about, but it's certainly something me and Matty have spoken about.

''Early on we were both pretty open about it, that we wanted to stay. There really wasn't a lot of temptation to leave ... That [combination with Toomua] played into it for sure, I really enjoy playing inside Matty and behind this forward pack here.''

The next step in clinching a Brumbies back line of the future will be securing inside centre Christian Lealiifano, who has already said he won't play for another Australian club but is weighing up lucrative offers overseas.

But White said Larkham's coaching, not just money, was a big incentive to keep the bulk of the Brumbies back line together. ''I'm sure Matty or Christian could probably earn a fair bit more if they went to the Rebels but they've chosen to stay for their player development,'' White said.

''It's certainly something the boys think about, it's not a case of looking at a piece of paper and looking at numbers. You've got to take into account the group you've got together and whether or not you're happy. We're all very happy here, we've had pretty successful seasons the last couple of seasons. If you have to take a little bit of a pay cut, well you might think about it.

''If there's a way, the boys are willing to be a bit flexible in order to keep everyone together because we've got a good group and we think good things can happen here.''

There was a fear the Brumbies could be vulnerable to a player exodus after the shock departure of coach Jake White last year and a number of players being elevated to Test status, increasing their contract value. Ben Mowen will play in France next season, while the Brumbies are still negotiating with Wallabies Lealiifano, Scott Fardy, Jesse Mogg, Scott Sio and Joe Tomane.

But White said Larkham and rugby director Laurie Fisher had provided stability. ''I'm thankful to Jake for giving us the opportunity, but in terms of our development [Larkham] has been a big part of that, he works with us day-in and day-out. I don't think guys were ever thinking about leaving when Jake left, that's for sure.''