The Brumbies have paid a high price for their bruising Super 14 win over the NSW Waratahs on Friday night, with skipper Stephen Hoiles set to be sidelined for up to six weeks with a knee injury.

The hard-working No.8 has been ruled out of the three-match tour of South Africa after suffering a grade two medial ligament tear.

The best-case scenario for Hoiles is a month in the stands.

"It's a shame for him. I think he's leading the team really well," said Brumbies coach Andy Friend.

"That will be a loss for us, but the boys will rally and we'll head over to South Africa reasonable shape."

On a brighter note, lock Mark Chisholm is likely to be available for next Sunday's clash with the Lions in Johannesburg despite suffering a head knock against the Waratahs.

After a rare home loss to the Western Force in their previous outing - before having the bye last round - the Brumbies returned to the winners' list in style, ending NSW's unbeaten start with some enterprising rugby.

The Brumbies ran in two tries to one, with Friend's decision to shift Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock back to his preferred outside centre position paying dividends.

"It's my fault for not picking him there in the first place, I take the rap for that," Friend said.

The 10-12-13 axis of man-of-the-match Christian Lealiifano, Tyrone Smith and Mortlock combined well all night, but no better than when they teamed to put winger Adam Ashley-Cooper over for the first five-pointer early in the second half.

Smith then instigated the match-sealing try for prop Ben Alexander 15 minutes from time before winger Lachie Turner scored a consolation five-pointer late on for the Waratahs.

Waratahs coach Chris Hickey was philosophical in defeat.

"You're not going to go through a season undefeated," he said.

"You don't like to lose games but that's the reality of the competition.

"In these situations, you've got to give credit to the opposition.

"I thought the Brumbies certainly turned up to play and they were very physical at the breakdown.

"We were reasonably happy with our effort in the first half but, when we went wide, we either turned the ball over at the breakdown, which was good work from the Brumbies, or we forced passes which turned the ball over again.

"Unfortunately we weren't patient enough to be able to build some pressure on them."

Hickey was confident the Waratahs would bounce back quickly for next Saturday's showdown with the Crusaders at ANZ Stadium.

"What's important now is how we regroup and respond to that loss," he said.

"I think a loss always sharpens the coaches and the players up. Things that you might have accepted when you're winning all of a sudden become unacceptable.

"This team will bounce back from this loss, I'm sure."

But hooker Adam Freier is almost certain to miss the 2008 final rematch after tearing a bicep.

Freier was to have a scan late on Saturday afternoon to determine the extent of his injury.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP