The Lions have earned their second win of the season with an impressive 29-20 victory over the Brumbies in their Super Rugby clash at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.
On the back of the strength of their forwards in both attack and defence and the flair of young flyhalf Elton Jantjies, the underdogs deserved their bonus-point win.
After conceding the first try early, the Lions' line was rarely under genuine threat as their uncompromising defence stood tall and the Brumbies were let down by errors and penalties in their attacking half.
The game started in a flurry of attack as the Lions unsuccessfully chanced their arm with a kick for touch instead of a kickable penalty and the Brumbies spread the ball wide and attacked the line.
The Lions' defence withstood repeated sets before the Brumbies eventually broke through with a try in the 12th minute when a rolling maul put Stephen Moore over from close range.
The Lions had another setback minutes later when Patrick Cilliers was yellow-carded for a lifting tackle on Josh Valentine, with Matt Giteau converting the penalty.
In the face of adversity the Lions lifted and after having a try disallowed they kept attacking and finally got the scoreboard ticking with Michael Rhodes crossing from a pick and go.
After being handed another kickable penalty which would have levelled the scores, the Lions again opted for a kick into touch and this time it paid dividends.
After initially pounding the defence through their forward play they spread the ball wide for Deon Van Rensburg to stroll over untouched.
The Lions continued where they left off in the second half and scored within four minutes when Jantjies stepped his way through and drew two defenders before flicking out a magical pass to put Alwyn Hollenbach over.
Jantjies slotted a 52nd minute penalty, before Giteau replied to narrow the gap to 22-13 with 26 minutes left.
Giteau then opted against a penalty goal which would have narrowed the gap to six points, but the Brumbies wasted that opportunity and it proved costly.
Then Jantjies stepped up again to set up the bonus-point try, stepping through a hole and running 20 metres before hitting Jaco Taute with a no-look pass.
A Giteau chip and chase lead to a late consolation try to Andrew Smith, but by then the damage was already done.
Lions 29
Tries: Rhodes, Van Rensburg, Hollenbach, Taute
Con: Jantjies 3/4
Pen: Jantjies 1/1
Brumbies 20
Tries: Moore, A. Smith
Con: Giteau 2/2
Pen: Giteau 2/2