With less than 20 minutes to go, the score had tightened to 25-22, but the Brumbies held on.

"That last ten minutes seemed to drag on forever," ACT assistant coach and Goulburn local, Ash Mewburn, said.

Though the visitors maintained their slim lead to claim a crucial win at Ballarat's Mars Stadium, Mewburn said the margin need not have been so close.

"Our foot definitely went off the pedal, we had patches of brilliance but the girls made hard work for themselves," she said.

"We weren't really playing to our level for the 80 minutes, we tended to stoop to the Rebels' level.

"We had a few great moments, when we play as a team we are rewarded for the hard work, but when we start to take our foot off the pedal the mistakes occur and the momentum swings and that's when we have to fight hard to get the ball back."

Saturday's encounter places the Brumbies at the top of the ladder after the first two rounds of the 2020 Super W, but their sternest challenge will come this weekend against the NSW Waratahs.

The Waratahs have won both Super W competitions to date, and beat the Rebels 33-3 in round one, their only match so far.

"We are very capable of matching the Waratahs, but the girls need the self-belief they can do it," Mewburn said.

This, she explained, will be a responsibility of the leadership group. The Brumbies have a very young squad and, while that often results in explosive and innovative play, the relative inexperience can be a barrier.

"We're playing against the two-time champions, they're faster and bigger in some ways, but we always seem to be underdogs and we do have youth coming up this year which is a surprise package," Mewburn said.

"It'll be interesting to see if the young ones can pick up the momentum and pace.

"It comes down to our leaders on the field and their accountability of driving the team forward and getting the momentum going."

Mewburn said Jane Garraway and Michaela Leonard, the Brumbies captains, have done a "great job" so far, and added that the experience of four-time World Championship Wallaroo, Louise Burrows, was invaluable.

The biggest challenge in Mewburn's eyes is maintaining the intensity of which the team is capable. This, she said, is seen in how well the players are running as a team.

"When we're running as a team, we look hot. When we stop running, that's when mistakes happen," she said.

"It's a mental thing, absolutely a mental game. you can be as fit as you want but if you're not mentally there then you've got something to work on. The girls need to be prepared for 80 minutes, not 60."

Mewburn's fellow Goulburn local, Pearl Rakete, played for roughly 25 minutes on Saturday and injected some of that much-needed vitality into the Brumbies' offence.

"Pearl's fantastic when she gets on the field ... she's got positive forward momentum and a bit of energy we need," Mewburn said.

"Hopefully she can continue to be that impact player as she gains more knowledge and experience."

Despite the inconsistency which Mewburn aims to address, she has a good feeling about the direction in which the team is headed.

"There's so much positivity, each week we keep building," she said.

The Brumbies will take on the NSW Waratahs this Friday, February 28, from 4.35pm at Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta.

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