In his run-on debut, Holmes admitted to early nerves but delivered a ''surreal'' performance to boot the Brumbies to victory over the Wellington Hurricanes last night.

The 21-year-old finished the 37-25 win with a 22-point haul, scoring his first try and booting four conversions and three penalties.

The biggest question mark over the Brumbies' finals ambitions before taking on the Hurricanes was their ability to cover the loss of two star flyhalves to season-ending injuries.

But the Brumbies powered on without Christian Lealiifano and Matt Toomua and Holmes helped orchestrate one the most determined wins in the club's history.

Before the match Holmes had seen 40 minutes of Super Rugby action in his first year in the competition.

''It's pretty surreal, you can't plan it to go much better than that,'' Holmes said.

''I was a bit nervous and on edge in that first 10 minutes but I relaxed after that and felt pretty comfortable.

''I just tried to do the things [coach Jake White] and [Stephen Larkham] told me to and that was to take my chances when they were there.

''There were a few things in my game that weren't great, but other than that it was pretty positive.'' With a strong wind, constant rain, hail and a forwards-dominated contest, the match loomed as a flyhalf's nightmare.

But Holmes almost scored with his first touch, held his nerve when kicking for goal and sealed the victory when he bounced off Tusi Pisi to score the first try of his career with 10 minutes to go.

His parents Karen and Graeme were in the crowd watching as he repaid the faith White showed in him.

White had asked Wallabies great Larkham to come out of retirement to fill the void left by Lealiifano and Toomua.

After Larkham declined, the Brumbies signed former Super Rugby point-scoring machine Peter Hewat to add experience to the back line. But Holmes showed enough to hold on to the No 10 jersey for at least the next two weeks.

White said Holmes's performance would give the rest of the squad confidence .

''I was surprised, he's a good player, but it's just affirmation for the squad to see that when you listen you're going to get a return,'' White said.

''All credit to him, he probably knows Christian and Matt Toomua are above him in the pecking order.

''But it reaffirms that when you've got players in they can adapt, everyone will appreciate you have to get on with the job.''

Despite Michael Hooper and Fotu Auelua being knocked out, the Brumbies will return to Canberra injury free.