The Brumbies have plummeted back to earth with a thud after being overwhelmed 43-13 by the Hurricanes in a lop-sided Super Rugby match in Palmerston North.
Led by inside centre Ngani Laumape's hat-trick, the Kiwi side won the physicality contest on Friday by a landslide, running in six tries to two against opponents who spent long periods trying to hold out waves of Hurricanes' runners.
It was a far cry from last week's record 54-17 thumping of the Chiefs by the Brumbies in Canberra, a sublime performance which sparked a week-long narrative that Australian teams had closed the trans-Tasman gap.
Not on New Zealand soil they seemingly haven't, where Australian sides have lost 38 of the past 39 matches.
That trend never looked threatened after the Hurricanes powered to 14-0 inside 14 minutes.
Captain Dane Coles bagged two of their first-half tries as they pushed to a 19-8 advantage by the break.
The hooker's tally was eclipsed by muscular All Blacks teammate Laumape, who was the game's dominant figure in a town where he had shone at schoolboy level.
Test stars Ardie Savea and TJ Perenara also thrived on the Hurricanes' glut of possession, forcing the visitors into attempting 150 tackles, of which 37 were missed.
The Brumbies offered little in attack although the pack looked effective at scrum time and on the lineout drive, which was the source of a first-half try to hooker Folau Fainga'a.
They also created a late try to replacement back Tom Wright when down to 14 men after Wallabies flanker David Pocock had been shown a yellow card for a late tackle.
Brumbies captain Christian Lealiifano admitted his team played second fiddle at the breakdown, the opposite of what unfolded against the Chiefs.
"We spoke about it, that things can turn really quickly in this competition and coming away against a really good Hurricanes side, those things can happen," he said.
"They put us under pressure firstly and there were some crucial mistakes that we made. We weren't able to recover from that."
Pocock was solid in his first full game of the season, along with All Blacks star Beauden Barrett who impressed Coles in his return appearance for the home side, kicking 11 points.
"Barrett kind of ran the show and it was good to see TJ back," Coles said.
"We're confident that when we get the recipe right through the week, we can perform like that."
The Hurricanes have claimed two wins from three while the Brumbies have notched two losses heading into next week's clash in Melbourne against the Rebels, who had turned them over in round one.