Brumbies edge Reds in low-scoring Super Rugby clash

It was a tight affair but the Brumbies were able to hold on for a 16-12 victory over the Reds in their Super Rugby Pacific clash at GIO Stadium on Friday to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

The Brumbies won their fifth consecutive game to begin a season for just the second time in their history after emerging from a bruising encounter against their old Super Rugby foes with another victory.

It was the Reds' first defeat of the season, and even though they gave a good account of themselves, they were just a bit too undercooked on the day to beat an imposing Brumbies outfit.

What a way to start the weekend! #REDvBRU #SuperRugbyPacific pic.twitter.com/7utmENzuKa

It was a nervy opening to the match with neither side willing to risk too much on attack early on. There were also too many reset scrums which made the start of the game incredibly slow.

Noah Lolesio eventually opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 14th minute before James O'Connor failed to level the scores with a penalty of his own seven minutes later.

The spectacle was not helped by the superb defending on display by both teams who made very few errors throughout.

However, the Reds were able to breach the Brumbies line in the 25th minute after a long multi-phase attack ended with O'Connor bamboozling Folau Fainga'a with a lovely inside step to score directly under the poles. He hit the conversion to make it 3-7.

In typical Brumbies fashion, they hit back five minutes later with a try of their own. Irae Simone put a delicate and accurate grubber kick through that sit up perfectly for Tom Wright to gobble it up and score.

Lolesio was successful with the conversion to restore the Brumbies' three-point lead.

After the two quick breaches, though,