Brumbies captain Ben Mowen admitted that his team had revenge on their mind when they took on the Reds in Canberra on Saturday.

The home side scored a try in each half and kept the Reds scoreless after half-time to cruise to a 24-6 victory in their Super Rugby opener, and Mowen said that the disappointment of losing twice to the Reds last year had spurred them on.

"They beat us twice last year and you try not to carry things over between seasons, but that really hurt us and we weren't happy," he said.

Coach Jake White's team showed impressive commitment and organisation on defence to shut the Reds out, but Mowen believes that they could have made better use of their attacking opportunities.

"We left a lot of opportunities out there but I'm really happy with that," he said.

Mowen said the Brumbies forward pack, which has been bolstered by the recruitment of Wallaby flanker David Pocock, had laid the foundation for the win.

"The breakdown is obviously a huge strength for the Reds and I think we matched them there tonight," he said.

The Brumbies travel to Melbourne next week to take on the Rebels who got their season off to an encouraging start with a 30-23 victory over the Western Force on Friday.