The Brumbies overcame a massive fright against Western Force, scoring two minutes from time to let skipper Allan Alaalatoa off the hook after a big gamble almost backfired horribly in their Super Rugby Pacific clash in Canberra.

The Force, whose only win on the first day of a season came in 2015, probably thought they’d done enough when they crossed through Jake McIntyre with five minutes to play.

The Brumbies held their nerve and stuck to a game plan delivered on the walkie talkie from coach Dan McKellar in the box and the Force were unable to hold firm.

Ultimately it took some classy interplay and penetration from Wallabies pair Pete Samu and Tom Wright, named man of the match, down the right flank. It ended with Wright floating a pass inside for Lachie Lonergan in support to crash over for the clincher in a 29-23 victory.

Alaalatoa will have been the most relieved of the lot, having passed up a penalty kick at goal in front with 65 minutes gone and the Brumbies ahead by six points.

(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

A similar roll of the dice eight minutes earlier had paid off handsomely when he opted to kick for a lineout instead of goal and Rory Scott capped a signature rolling maul with a try, the second via that avenue in the second half.

With Izack Rodda having a superb game at lock for the Force, the visitors were in the Brumbies’ faces throughout – down by a point at halftime and fighting back admirably despite a 47th minute try by Folau Fainga’a.

With many tipping the Brumbies to be the highest placed Australian team in this year’s competition the feeling was one of massive relief after the late escape.

“It was way too close but we managed to get away with it and sneak the points in the end,” said Brumbies coach Dan McKellar.

“The reality is we made too many mistakes today in that first 25 minutes – the lineout didn’t function well, the Force put us under pressure and we struggled to apply any pressure but we got away with it.”

After the Force’s go-ahead try McKellar said his message was clear.

“I just said kick long, stick to our plan,” he said. “There are three minutes left, kick long understanding it was too long for them to try to close it out and hope they’d kick the ball back to us and that’s what they did.”

McKellar said the team had done plenty of work on their attack during the off season but their clunky execution at times was “a bit too similar to training.

“We showed some really good passages and then it’s finished with an error – we need to address that, understanding that if we don’t build possession we’ll struggle to build pressure and put any stress on a defence,” said McKellar.

The lineout was also a concern for the hosts and although they went a long way to rectifying issues in the second period, the Force won the ball four times off the Brumbies first half throws.

“Our process and tempo was really slow,” said McKellar. “That allowed their defence to change the picture and put us under stress and pressure. There were a couple of throws that weren’t on the mark but I never like blaming the hooker.”

There were bright signs from Wallabies backs Wright and Tom Banks, back for his first game since suffering a broken arm against the Springboks last year.

“I thought he was great,” McKellar said of fullback Banks.

“He had a long preparation, did the majority of pre-season off the back of his injury against the Springboks. He loves wearing the Brumbies jersey and he plays well in it. He’ll tale a lot of confidence out of that performance and he’s in line for a good year.”

Wright, meanwhile scored a first half try, crossing after some good vision and pass from Noah Lolesio, who had an up and down afternoon.

“It was a similar story to previous years – as long as I’ve been here I’ve known the group to be extremely resilient,” said Wright.

“A couple of minutes to go we had to regroup behind the posts and come up with a plan of attack. You’ve seen us do it a few times before – we leave it pretty late at the best of times.”

While there were plenty of issues for the review, the Brumbies will take heart from claiming the points and being able to get the job done at the death.

“We were making sure we were being positive,” said Wright. “It’s easy at times to pick the eyes out of what’s going wrong on the field but it’s always good when something positive goes for you. Some of our scrum plays were pleasing but there are going to be times where we have to be a lot better at exiting.”

All Blacks legend Andrew Mehrtens, speaking on Stan Sport, had high praise for Wright’s impactful attack.

“He’s innovative isn’t he?’ said Mehrtens. “We saw him when he saved a ball going into touch right on the Brumbies line in the first half, good skill and he just fights.

“He’s got good feet and was clinical at the end – he’s got great pace and acceleration. He gets himself involved and went forward every time he got an opportunity.”

The Force will be crushed by the nature of the defeat, but showed they’ll prove a handful for the rest of the campaign.

“All the things we know the Force bring – physicality, never say die attitude, a hard working forward pack – they brought,” said Morgan Turinui on Stan Sport.

Mehrtens added: “The Force have got a really strong lineout. Both sides today scored a large proportion of their points off the lineouts. You add Izack Rodda – and that adds a lot of the Force lineout and suddenly you’ve got a lineout that’s going to give other teams a lot of worry on their own ball.

Former Wallaby said that while Rodda was the club’s biggest signing for this season he was impressed with their depth.

“It’s almost been an Achilles heel for them in recent seasons – they’ve had a strong XV but not necessarily a 23 or 35. Issak Fines was great when he came on and McIntyre got over at the end so they are getting some really good impact from their bench as well which we probably haven’t seen in previous seasons.”

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