That's the question the ACT Brumbies will ask themselves after a gritty loss against the Canterbury Crusaders on Saturday night continued a 17-year hoodoo.

The new-look Brumbies gave themselves a chance to snatch a rare win in Christchurch in the opening round of the Super Rugby season.

But they might look back on the 17-13 defeat as the one that got away after costly errors ruined their hopes of start their season with a bang.

The Brumbies were defiant until the end and showed guts as the Crusaders dominated field position and possession for most of the game.

They return home with a bonus point for losing by seven points or less and next week they will try to turn that into a win for the first home game of the season against the Durban Sharks.

"We'll look back it and think we could have won that game," said Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham.

"But equally the Crusaders will look back on it and a few opportunities they missed.

"I thought it was a very enjoyable game to watch ... we'll certainly come away from that game and look at a lot of the opportunities we missed.

"Defensively I thought we were outstanding, we forced a few turnovers but didn't finish them. We weren't quite as clinical as we needed to be."

The Brumbies launched a second-half fightback after being left stunned in the opening exchanges of the game.

The decisive moment came when Brumbies winger James Dargaville was controversially sin-binned for dangerous play when he collided with airborne Crusaders fullback Israel Dagg.

Both players had their eyes on the ball and Dargaville didn't see Dagg leap into the air to take the high ball.

The Brumbies were defiant in defence in Dargaville's 10-minute absence, but the Crusaders scored just before he returned to the field to open up a nine-point half-time lead.

The Brumbies clawed their way into the contest after the break and had the Crusaders going backwards when Rory Arnold finished off a long-range attacking sequence at the start of the second half.

Rookie flyhalf Wharenui Hawera then booted the Brumbies within four points late in the second half, but a late dropped ball gave the Crusaders the opening they needed to seal the result.

Brumbies captain Sam Carter said: "The defence is something we pride ourselves on and we hung in there for 80 minutes, but couldn't get [the result]. There's only one way to go from here."

Winger Seta Tamanivalu opened the scoring as the Crusaders stretched the defence and then Whetu Douglas scored just before Dargaville re-joined the game.

Arnold gave the Brumbies hope, but Peter Samu scored from the back of a scrum to lift the Crusaders to a round-one win at home for the first time since 2010.

The Brumbies blooded seven new faces in the opening game of the season and all showed they can fill the holes left by some star departures.

New Zealand-born Hawera had some mixed moments. His kicking game was solid and goal-kicking was outstanding, but he dropped off some tackles in his debut.

Chris Alcock showed there's life after David Pocock, teaming up with Scott Fardy to launch an assault on the breakdown and prop Nic Mayhew was impressive in his first game for the club.

Neither team set the game on fire. But the Brumbies' defensive line held strong under pressure and the players showed they won't be a spent force in the Australian conference this year.

"You're always going to have errors, but I thought it was a very good game. Rarely do we find our shape all the time ... I thought we scored a fantastic try," Larkham said.

"That's something we've worked on and you could see it transfer on to the field. We just need to be more clinical with our set-piece. We're normally better than that."

AT A GLANCE

CANTERBURY CRUSADERS 17 (Seta Tamanivalu, Whetu Douglas, Peter Samu tries; Richie Mo'unga conversion) bt ACT BRUMBIES 13 (Rory Arnold try; Wharenui Hawera 2 penalties, conversion) at AMI Stadium, Christchurch. Referee: Glenn Jackson.