Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher says his Super 14 team must take full responsibility for an horrific performance against the Bulls.

The Brumbies lost 19-7 to the Bulls in a game where the home side dropped the ball at least 16 times, many of those agonisingly close to the line.

"The players have got to take some responsibility for poor skills," Fisher said.

"We've just got to look at basic skill."

In a game marred by dropped ball and injury stoppages, the Bulls claimed their first ever win in Canberra since Super rugby began in 1996, and also ended a nine-year drought for South African sides in the Australian capital.

In the worst case of the Brumbies fumbles deep in the second half, Wallaby George Smith found himself at the end of a smooth backline passage only to watch the ball pop out in front just metres from the line.

The Bulls were not much better in attack but rode home on the boot of flyhalf Derick Hougaard, who kicked 14 points before taking an early shower 10 minutes from full-time.

The first try came late in the opening half when Bulls No.8 Pedrie Wannenburg found himself on the bottom of a rolling maul that came from a lineout eight metres from the line.

Hougaard opened the scoring in just the second minute when he slotted home a field goal. Ten minutes later he booted a 50-metre penalty goal.

Hougaard kicked two more penalty goals late in the half to give the Pretoria outfit a 19-0 lead at half-time.

Inside centre Gene Fairbanks delivered the only attacking bright spot of the Brumbies night when he burst through the Bulls line and dashed 15 metres to score under the posts in the opening moments of the second half.

The loss is a pivotal moment in the Brumbies Super 14 season, with only one more home match before a gruelling three-week tour of South Africa.

Fisher admitted the night was ghastly but said it was not time to panic just yet.

"It's a bloody tough competition and it's disappointing to lose at home but I think, again, sides have shown that winning on the road's not as hard as it used to be," he said.

"We've just got to dust off, we've got to look at how and why we made the number of errors in our game, we've got to make sides play, we've got to make sides work in the first half so we've got something to play at in the second half."

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