Lachlan Lonergan scores last-ditch winner as ACT Brumbies pip Western Force in Super Rugby Pacific

"I knew if I'm there in the right place he'd find me," the ACT Brumbies hooker said.

And find him he did, with Lonergan steaming onto an inside ball to score a last-gasp match-winner in the Brumbies' 29-23 triumph over the Western Force at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

Lonergan reckons he was just "in the right place at the right time" to secure the points in his side's Super Rugby Pacific opener. But coach Dan McKellar knows this was no fluke.

"The great Jeremy Paul made a career out of running that sort of support line and Noss is very similar," McKellar said.

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"That's his point of difference, his speed around the park, his mobility. It was pleasing he popped up there because we needed him to."

They needed him to because the Force had gone one point clear when Jake McIntyre converted his own try with three minutes left on the clock. The Force hadn't beaten the Brumbies in almost a decade. They hadn't won a season opener in seven years.

Just as they looked set to break the drought, it all changed in one fell swoop as Wright found Lonergan to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Brumbies were far from perfect. Then again, you don't win finals in February.

They had their backs to the wall, forced to defend like their lives depended on it. They showed glimpses of attacking brilliance, the kind that can bring fans to their feet.

The Brumbies' lineout was misfiring against a side bolstered by the inclusion of Izack Rodda. So often it put the Force on the front-foot inside enemy territory.

But the Brumbies kept finding a way. They made 105 tackles in the first half alone. The Force, just 25. Depending on which statistics you're reading, the difference could have been as many as 100 tackles. Twice the visitors were held up over the line.

"I didn't like it too much and I'm sitting in the box," McKellar grinned about the work rate in the summer heat.

"The lineout didn't function for the first 25 minutes, a lot of it was our own doing to be honest. [Rodda] put a bit of pressure on us as well, but the pleasing thing is we found solutions. There's no point waiting until Monday morning to find solutions, you've got to at times find it on the run. We adapted.

"I thought the forward pack were outstanding, put a lot of pressure on at scrum time, came away with two maul tries, and we found a way. The reality is we made way too many mistakes. If we turnover that much ball against the Fijians, it'll be difficult for us. Good teams find a way and we did that."

Allan Alaalatoa had long since declared the time for talking was over. Sunday marked time to deliver on what they'd promised - and to play an attractive brand of rugby was among them.

True to their word, it was a scintillating piece of play that opened the Brumbies' account for 2022. Irae Simone found playmaker Lolesio out the back, who drew in the Force defence to put Wright over in the corner.

And when the lineout started to function, the maul started rolling.

For all the weapons the Force might have had on the park, they would have needed a crowbar to get the ball away from Fainga'a on the back of a Brumbies rolling maul.

Fainga'a bulldozed his way over the line, adding five points to the scoreboard and $500 to a cause close to his heart in the Red Cross Pacific Tsunami appeal. Rory Scott followed soon after as the Brumbies' potent rolling maul put rivals on notice.

So begins the Brumbies' pursuit of the Super Rugby crown.

AT A GLANCE

Super Rugby Pacific round one: ACT BRUMBIES 29 (Tom Wright, Folau Fainga'a, Rory Scott, Lachlan Lonergan tries; Noah Lolesio 3 conversions; Lolesio penalty) bt WESTERN FORCE 23 (Toni Pulu, Jake McIntyre tries; Ian Prior, McIntyre conversions; Prior 3 penalties) at Canberra Stadium.

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