The ACT Brumbies have accounted for the Johannesburg Lions 24-13 in front of a small crowd at Canberra Stadium on a wet and cool Friday evening.
The Brumbies scored three tries to one in their first home game for 2010, but missed out on an all-important fourth try and bonus point despite a late push.
The Brumbies have now won three of their first four starts this season.
The ACT outfit fielded an unchanged line-up from its impressive win against the Stormers in Cape Town last weekend while the Lions side featured eight changes.
The first half was a scrappy affair with both sides unable to put a number of phases together.
Slippery conditions and a loose start from the Brumbies, handing the ball over a number of times, was frustrating for both the Brumbies and the small crowd looking on.
The Lions were the first on the board with Burton Frances successfully slotting his second penalty attempt across with 10 minutes gone.
The Brumbies evened the score fives minutes later when Matt Giteau kicked a penalty from 42m out.
The Brumbies then dominated the Lions scrum forcing a dozen penalties, with referee Steve Walsh finally losing patience with the Lions front row and sending a Lions front rower to the sin bin.
The Brumbies continued to put the pressure on, spending the rest of the half near the Lions try line and Walsh awarded the Brumbies a penalty try with Giteau adding the two extra points to give the Brumbies a 10-3 lead going into the break.
The second half was more a free-flowing affair despite persistent rain.
The Lions opened the scoring again in the second half with Frances converting a penalty from 45m to make the score 10-6.
Quick thinking from Brumbies rookie winger Pat McCabe and Giteau allowed Brumbies centre Christian Lealiifano to cross over for an impressive team try.
Giteau slotted the conversion and handed the Brumbies a 17-6 advantage.
The Lions replied five minutes later when hooker Hannes Franklin bustled over again reducing the margin to four points.
But the South African side's deficit increased again soon after when Brumbies hooker Stephen Moore crossed the line following a strong push from the Brumbies forwards.
The Brumbies continued to put pressure on the Lions try line, including a number of phases after the siren, but were not able to convert any chances, with the score remaining 24 - 13.
Brumbies 24
Tries: Lealiifano, Moore
Penalty try: Giteau
Conversions: Giteau 3
Penalty: Giteau
Lions 13
Try: Franklin
Conversion: Francis
Penalty: Francis
@Canberra Stadium
Crowd: 17,501