The Brumbies were mere onlookers as the other four Australian franchises slumped to defeats over the weekend and all they care about is taming the Johannesburg Lions.

The Brumbies face the tall task of shutting down the third best attack in the competition at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

A win would mark their first win over international opponents this year, a feat achieved on just three occasions by all Australian teams combined this season.

At times Super Rugby's New Zealand outfits have scored points at will against Australian opposition and things won't get any easier against the Africa 2 conference leaders.

The Australian under 20's also dropped their game against New Zealand, hammered 43-6 in the Oceania tournament on the Gold Coast.

It's hardly the injection of confidence Wallabies fans are after as concerns about Australia's future grow louder, but that hasn't breached the Brumbies' four walls.

"Obviously there's a lot being said, especially over the weekend, [after] a few losses to the other franchises and the under 20s as well," Speight said.

"Our main focus is us and trying to improve our performance week in, week out. Try and stay on top of our conference, put us in a good spot for playoffs.

"There's a lot of outside noise about Australian rugby at the moment, but in house our main focus is just preparing for this week."

The Brumbies had won 10 Australian derbies in a row before their shock loss to the Melbourne Rebels last month.

But Speight wasn't shying away from the fact the Brumbies boast a lacklustre record against international teams and says this week is a chance to turn things around.

"We go well against our domestic teams but it's always a good test if you can go out and perform against international opposition," Speight said.

"This week is no different, there's a lot of Springboks in the Lions team and across the park they're consistently playing well.

"It's another massive test for us but in a way it's a good challenge for us to step up."

The Brumbies were told to get away from rugby during the bye week and while they come back refreshed, lock Blake Enever says they aren't coming back with a clean slate.

The Brumbies have lost a number of close games this season and the mistakes they've made in the past aren't ones they will forget easily.

"Those tight games are still lingering in the back of our minds," Enever said.

"We want to finish those games a lot stronger and get those wins. As a squad we're going to move forward and we're just focusing on the games ahead, but we can always take what we've learnt from the last few blocks forward moving into the game."

The Brumbies have lost five games by less than seven points this season and Enever says while they "can't quite put a finger on it all", they have recognised things they need to improve.

The thing they need the most of to beat the high-flying Lions? "Aggression".

"They're a big team that love running the ball so we've got to get up there in defence and slow them down and shut their options down," Enever said.

"They've got good backs and forwards so pretty exciting rugby that they play, but we've just got to match it and get up for the game.

"We've had the bye so hopefully we can get up and put on a good performance."