It looked set to be an all Kiwi affair in the semi-finals next weekend, until the 60^th minute when everything changed.

Propelling the Brumbies to a 10-point victory over the Wellington Hurricanes.

They were Rugby Australia's last hope, and best hope, on Saturday night after both the NSW Waratahs and Queensland Reds had already fallen to their New Zealand opponents.

The Brumbies had not beaten the Hurricanes in the finals series since 1997, and had their backs against the wall with three consecutive losses hanging over them, a red card and a trailing scoreline.

Before a penalty conversion by Noah Lolesio, followed by a try at the hands of Tom Banks minutes later, made sure it was not to be as they capitalised on their momentum to end the contest 35-25.

Skipper Allan Alaalatoa dismissed claims that as the only Australian outfit there would be extra-pressure on their shoulders heading into their semi-final clash against the Auckland Blues.

"No, not from that context," he said.

"Like I touched on before, the belief that we build throughout the week and connection that we have throughout the week is so important for us to go over there and just to be by ourselves.

"I's going to be huge. So that's something we've touched on already, but we'll continue to build that belief and conditioning throughout the week."

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As the Brumbies trailed by four points, their reinforcements came on and came with a vengeance.

Lachlan Lonergan, Scott Sio, Sef Kautau, Nick Frost, Jahrome Brown, Ryan Lonergan, Ollie Sapsford had an immediate impact when they took to the field.

The Brumbies skipper and coach Dan McKellar both praised their finishes off the bench, and how vital their entry into the game was.

"Both Lonergans, Frost, Jahrome Brown, I mean the whole lot of them, Ollie obviously played a lot more minutes than normal, which is good for him," McKellar said.

"I just thought their foot speed and effort areas were noticeable and then that last sort of 20-25 minutes they had some big involvements in phase attack, and then obviously ran line out defence, Frost, as well as Hooper, came out with some big plays.

"So [it was] a special night."

The crowd braving the cold in chilling temperatures came alive as it became clear, the Brumbies were not giving up.

An uphill battle awaited them but the thought of farewelling their head coach McKellar, veteran Brumby Sio, crucial fullback Banks, and goose-step try scorer Irae Simone fuelled them.

They wanted another week together, and their team effort got them there, for their last showdown at home.

The moment was not lost on McKellar.

"It's sad, isn't it," he said when asked about his last time in Brumbies colours at Canberra Stadium.

"It's always tough, but just glad that we get a couple more weeks yet.

"I've said many times, all good things come to an end. It's been coming for a while, seasons go so quickly and it sneaks up on you quicker than what you'd expect.

"But just very thankful and grateful that we've had nine great years. the first year I just wanted to get to my second year and just make sure that I did a good enough job to earn the respect of the players and the staff and I've been fortunate to stay here.

"Me and my family have loved it and it's been a big part of our hearts."

Despite the come from behind win, and the resilience shown by the Brumbies, there are plenty of areas they will need to sharpen up next week again the Auckland Blues.

Their discipline in defence, their missed tackle count, and their lack of possession were what cost them early points.

The discipline in the Brumbies ruck cost them the most, as referee Paul Williams reluctantly penalised the home side for their slowing attempts on the Hurricanes.

It was four penalty kicks off Jordie Barrett's boot in the first half, and it was another in the second.

Compared to the homeside's three penalty conversions. And it gave the Hurricanes 15 of their 25 points.

Another area that hurt the ACT outfit was their missed tackles, sitting at 21 for the Brumbies compared to the six missed by the visitors.

Given the amount of possession the Hurricanes had, they were bound to be a few cracks in their defence.

The biggest variance on the stat sheet was the metres carried. The Hurricanes carried the ball 388 metres, some 156 metres more than the Brumbies.