The Brumbies beat nerves, a mountain of defence and a lack of patience to secure a 30-23 win over the Wellington Hurricanes at Canberra Stadium on Friday night.

If the Queensland Reds lose on Saturday night, the Brumbies could secure a drought-breaking finals berth if they beat the Melbourne Rebels next week.

The good news for the Brumbies is they played well below their best to beat the Hurricanes.

They showed grit and determination well beyond their years to repel almost 20 minutes of non-stop Hurricanes attack in the dying stages to hold on for the win.

It would have been easy for the Brumbies to collapse under the pressure as the Hurricanes searched for an equaliser, but the defensive line refused to budge.

The Brumbies still lead the Australian conference with just two regular season games remaining.

''To win against New Zealand sides with 10 All Blacks is tough,'' Brumbies coach Jake White said. ''It's play-off rugby now, we have to win these games to win the conference and we have to win knockout games to win the tournament.''

Young gun flanker Colby Fainga'a was outstanding in the absence of superstars David Pocock and George Smith.

The win will be tempered by the Brumbies being without five stars for the clash with the Rebels.

Ben Mowen, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, Christian Lealiifano and Joseph Tomane will attend a Wallabies training camp on Sunday.

Adding to the depleted stocks is a shoulder injury to Fotu Auelua while David Pocock, George Smith and Pat McCabe are all unavailable with knee injuries and Andrew Smith is recovering from a hamstring problem.

That means the Brumbies have just 21 fit full-contracted players for the crucial clash, which could decide whether they host a home semi-final and get a $500,000 injection into the club coffers.

''We're winning and that's good, but we're by no means playing our best footy,'' Brumbies flyhalf Matt Toomua said.

''We can't get complacent, hopefully we can hit our straps against the Rebels, we maybe overplayed our hand a little bit.''

The Brumbies skipped out to a 6-0 lead before they scored their first try after a Hurricanes howler on their own line.

The second half started with controversy as the Brumbies forced their way over the line twice in 30 seconds.

First it was Mowen powering his way over before the television match official ruled he was held up.

Then from the attacking scrum Tevita Kuridrani reached out to score but lost the ball over the line.

Instead of getting off to a blistering start, the Brumbies had to settle for a penalty goal and extending their lead to 17-10.

It cost the Brumbies as they made more back-to-back mistakes that allowed Hurricanes flyhalf Beauden Barrett to nail penalties and cut the margin to one.

They were finally rewarded when flanker Peter Kimlin made a smart decision in a ruck and drove his way over the line for his team's second try. It was his first try since round 12, 2009.

But the Hurricanes refused to fold and scrumhalf T.J.Perenara got his team within striking distance when he scored with just 13 minutes remaining.