Brumbies openside flanker Colby Faingaa makes a charge against the Blues
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Matches: Blues 13-20 Brumbies

Tournaments/Tours: Super Rugby

The Brumbies have survived a late Blues fightback in treacherously wet Auckland weather conditions to win 20-13 and secure their place at the top of the Super Rugby Australian conference.

It was a scrappy, desperate game at Eden Park, the Brumbies only just coming out on top courtesy of their early domination of the scrum and ill-discipline from the Blues.

Handling errors were so numerous between the two teams in the wet weather that the total scrum time sucked more than 20 minutes out of the match.

The Brumbies suitably adapted their game plan to the slippery conditions, opting to play the percentages through midfield high balls and opportunistic kicks to the corner.

The Blues on the other hand stubbornly refused to cap their usual attacking flair early on and paid for it dearly through numerous handling errors that gifted the Brumbies both possession and territory.

The Brumbies made the most of their early prime real estate, inside centre Christian Lealiifano kicking two penalties before the 17th-minute mark.

Halfback Nic White then extended the lead in the 22nd minute through a piece of individual brilliance, toeing ahead a loose ball following another Brumbies bomb and sliding six metres in the wet conditions to score.

A third Lealiifano penalty on the cusp of halftime gave the Brumbies a 14-0 lead heading into the break.

The Blues hit back immediately, first through a penalty to five-eighth Chris Noakes and then a 54th-minute try to Rene Ranger to narrow the gap to four points.

However the Brumbies weren't finished, the two sides trading a penalty each, before Lealiifano kicked over the final three points of the match.

The win snapped a two-match losing streak for the Brumbies and was their first at Eden Park since 2008.

It also puts them six points ahead of their nearest Australian rivals the Queensland Reds, who play the Stormers in Cape Town early on Sunday morning.