And they let it be known.

Super Rugby referee Damon Murphy made no friends in Bruce, as he and the rest of the refereeing team were booed into the sheds twice.

The penalty count sat 12-1 against the Brumbies in the first half, with two yellow cards to go with it.

And ended 16-5 at the final whistle during their two-point loss to the Auckland Blues.

Blues coach Leon MacDonald commended his side for their defensive discipline.

"It was a bit of an emotional ride for the crowd and the coaches," he said.

"That was an intense game, the break down, the tackle area, I thought both teams put everything out there.

"That was a Test match, and every breakdown was fierce, set piece was hard fought. [Murphy] refereed in front of a crowd that were baying for the calls to go their way.

"I thought out discipline was fantastic. It's something we've talked about, it's something we've trained, and our job is to make sure that we give the referee as less things to look at as possible.

"We weren't perfect, but in a game like that you're gonna get a little bit wrong. But I think that mindset that we had helped us, ultimately, end up on the right side of the penalty."

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The Brumbies' defence held the Blues up on the line four times during the first half before it proved fifth time unlucky.

It was the fourth attempt some 27 minutes in that attracted the initial discontent from the Canberra crowd, after a try was awarded for the Blues.

After loud booing, and a brief look at the television match official replay on the big screen, Murphy called for a review.

Blues hooker Kurt Eklund lost the ball on grounding and it was deemed a no try, but Brumbies hooker Folau Fainga'a was shown a yellow card for a no-arm tackle.

Things went from bad to worse for the Brumbies four minutes before half-time. They were depleted to 13 men after Darcy Swain was also shown a yellow.

The Blues capitalised on the reduced Brumbies defence and Beauden Barrett crossed with the final play of the half.

The crowd erupted again early in the second half after Nic White was tackled from behind, head-high, as he ran towards the try line.

The scrumhalf picked up the ball off a fumble and broke away, coming within six metres of the line before Roger Tuivasa-Sheck caught up to him.

Murphy awarded a penalty to the Brumbies, but did not reach for a card.

The final penalty blow came at the siren, providing the last nail in the coffin for the Brumbies.

The home side's one-point lead was lost, as Murphy signalled a penalty advantage for the Blues as they booted a drop goal to make it 21-19 with the final play of the game.

It was Luke Reimer's time. The flanker made his second start for the season against the Blues, only to succumb to a knee injury early on.

The No.7 got his right leg caught under the ruck, tackling former Brumby James Tucker 12 minutes in.

A trainer strapped it but it continued to give Reimer grief and he was subbed off at the 25-minute mark to be replaced by Rory Scott.

"It looks like a medial [crucial ligament injury]," Brumbies coach Dan McKellar said on Reimer.

"He's in a brace now. I don't know what grade it is, hopefully it's not too long.

"He was good, he played well. Look, I thought across the board they were all incredibly brave."

Reimer's replacement was sent for a head injury assessment by officials six minutes into the second half, but Scott was cleared and returned to the field.

The Blues lost a star of their own 52 minutes in, with winger Caleb Clarke limping from the field with a hamstring injury after chasing White's breakaway.

MacDonald confirmed he would likely miss a number of weeks due to the nature of the injury, and his position, but only initial assessments had been done, so far, on the tear.

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