Resurgent Brumbies fire warning shot by stunning unbeaten Hurricanes

The ACT Brumbies have stunned the Wellington Hurricanes 27-19 to hand the ladder leaders their first loss of the Super Rugby Pacific season in front of 8648 at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.

Stephen Larkham's side answered their doubters with a first-half ambush setting up a win over the competition leaders just a week after coming home from Auckland with their tails between their legs.

The challenge now will be repeating the dose across the Tasman when it matters most.

"Ryan [Lonergan] was superb through the week. He was our captain, obviously Al [Alaalatoa] has come back in and he's been a long-term captain of the club, but Ryan through the week was sending the right messages to the players," Larkham said.

"It was being backed up by the players. It's always a stronger message when it comes from internal.

"The guys challenged themselves within the group to higher standards and we saw a lot of improvement this week. Pleasing for the players to know they can train like that and it leads to a result like that.

"Every team in this competition is dangerous on their day. They're on top of the ladder, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're any better than any of the teams we're coming up against in the next couple of games, so we've got to make sure our preparation is right."

The Brumbies needed little more than four minutes to strike the first blow with flyhalf Noah Lolesio crossing in the corner, but this was never going to be a walkover. You don't enter round 10 undefeated - with wins over four domestic rivals - by chance.

But come the midway point of the opening half, the Brumbies were running with the clock. Tamati Tua - who beat six defenders and ran for 94 metres in the first half alone - and Ollie Sapsford had split the Hurricanes defence, and the hosts looked a vastly different side to the one which travelled to Auckland a week ago.

Before long Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw was searching for Dane Coles' phone number again. The club sent Coles - who is now lacing up the boots for the Kubota Spears in Japan - an SOS this week after hooker Asafo Aumua was ruled out for up to eight weeks with a knee injury.

Now you wonder if they'll go back to the well after starting hooker James O'Reilly left the field for a head injury assessment following a heavy collision with Brumbies flanker Rob Valetini.

Alaalatoa was strong in a 40-minute shift in his first appearance since a ruptured Achilles ended his World Cup dream with the Wallabies last July, but the Brumbies finished without Corey Toole [ankle], Len Ikitau [head injury assessment] and Blake Schoupp [shoulder].

The trio will be monitored throughout the week with Larkham hopeful they will be fit to face the Fijian Drua next week.

As for this day, the Brumbies managed to hold on and hand the Hurricanes their first loss since last year's quarter-final at Canberra Stadium in what Laidlaw suggests could be a blessing in disguise.

"It helps. I'm excited, because it felt like a playoff game," Laidlaw said.

"The Brumbies are a quality side. If you're going to win the competition, you're going to have to beat teams like the Brumbies, the Waratahs and the Blues, which is today, next week and the week after.

"We knew this was a tricky period with the Chiefs into the Drua away into the Brumbies away, so I'm really excited around what we can learn from this and what we take into the Waratahs game next week."

ACT BRUMBIES 27 (Noah Lolesio, Tamati Tua, Ollie Sapsford tries; Lolesio 3 cons; Lolesio 2 pens) bt WELLINGTON HURRICANES 19 (Xavier Numia 2, Jordie Barrett tries; Brett Cameron 2 cons) at Canberra Stadium. Crowd: 8648.