The Brumbies and the Western Force went into a tough match to see who could be the most conservative and in an added twist the Brumbies clinched a tight 19-17 victory in Canberra.

The match got off to a slow start with clumsy errors from both sides with little to no attacking flair or creativity.

The two forward packs looked to grind things out and the teams traded penalties either for infringements at the breakdown or being caught off sides.

The kickers James Stannard and Nic White were both accurate off the kicking-tee, with the Brumbies No.9 showing that he is dangerous with the boot from some distance.

With the score at 12-9 at half-time neither side had very much to write home about going into the tunnel.

The Brumbies came out with much more purpose in the second half and score two quick tries to put all the pressure on the Force.

Off the back of a 5m scrum White peeled off the back and timed his pass to a flying Jesse Mogg to perfection to break the defensive line and open the scoring.

The Canberra side then kept the ball in hand and spread it wide to Robbie Coleman on the overlap to take their lead out to 19-12 with 30 minutes to play.

The Force were finally able to crack the watertight Brumbies defence after carrying the ball through numerous phases until Stannard found some space out wide and slid in for a crucial try.

In the final quarter of the match both kickers lost their radars and weren't able to hit the target, with Stannard and Matt Toomua both striking the upright.

The Force kept ball in hand throughout the final five minutes, but the Brumbies defence was solid and impenetrable as the home side keep their composure and waited for a Force handling error.

The Perth franchise had more than enough possession, but David Pocock's men didn't have a creative spark in the backline to find a match-winner.

Man of the match: David Pocock was good at the breakdown, but in a match where few players stood out Brumbies fullback Robbie Coleman looked the most exciting and added some energy and what turned out to be the match-winning try.

Scorers:

For Brumbies:
Tries: Mogg, Coleman
Pens: White 3

For Force:
Try: Stannard
Pens: Stannard 4

Teams:

Brumbies: 15 Robbie Coleman, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Andrew Smith, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 Jesse Mogg, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Nic White, 8 Ben Mowen (captain), 7 Ita Vaea, 6 Peter Kimlin, 5 Sam Carter, 4 Leon Power, 3 Dan Palmer, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Ben Alexander.
Replacements: 16 Anthony Hegarty, 17 Ruaidhri Murphy, 18 Scott Fardy, 19 Michael Hooper, 20 Ian Prior, 21 Zack Holmes, 22 Joe Tomane.

Western Force: 15 Alfie Mafi, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Winston Stanley, 12 Rory Sidey, 11 Napolioni Nalaga, 10 James Stannard, 9 Brett Sheehan, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock (captain), 6 Matt Hodgson, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Toby Lynn, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Nathan Charles, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Kieran Longbottom, 18 Phoenix Battye, 19 Angus Cottrell, 20 Justin Turner, 21 Ben Seymour, 22 Sam Wara.

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Andrew Lees (Australia), James Leckie (Australia)
TMO: Matt Goddard (Australia)

By Timmy Hancox