Brumbies blow chance to consolidate with loss to Force All the highlights from the Western Force's battle with the ACT Brumbies. Nick Cummins takes the ball up for the Force against the Brumbies. THE Brumbies were given a major reality check heading into the Super Rugby finals by suffering a shock 21-15 defeat to the lowly Force. The Force scored three tries to two to secure just their fourth win of the season, the result scuppering any chance the Brumbies had of snaring second spot on the table and a home semi-final. The Brumbies still finished the regular season on top of the Australian conference and third overall, meaning they'll take on the Cheetahs in an elimination final in Canberra next week. But the Brumbies might find it hard to overcome the mental effects of arguably their worst performance of the season. A whopping 17 handling errors ruined their chances of victory, but they also endured several forgettable moments in which key players made unusual mistakes at Perth's nib Stadium. Twice in the second half, fullback Jesse Mogg failed to kick the ball into touch after being awarded penalties. But flyhalf Matt Toomua was left the most embarrassed in the 79th minute when he caught Jayden Hayward's missed shot on goal but forgot to touch the ball down. Instead, he threw it 15m forward to a teammate, resulting in a Force scrum. Although the Force finished last in the Australian conference - and 13th overall - they can take heart from wins over the Brumbies, Reds and Crusaders, as well as the Highlanders. Wallabies forward Hugh McMeniman was stretchered off in the 66th minute after injuring his neck while contesting a breakdown. And lock Sam Wykes limped off with a leg injury. The Force entered the match eager to atone for their 41-7 thumping at the hands of the Brumbies back in April. A pre-match downpour made for slippery conditions and both teams were guilty of committing a glut of unforced knock-ons in a scrappy opening 20 minutes. The Brumbies looked particularly rusty and a dropped high ball from Toomua led to the Force's first try. Toomua's mistake gave the Force great field position and Matt Hodgson barged over shortly after when he took a quick tap from a penalty. WESTERN FORCE 21 (Matt Hodgson, Ben McCalman, Junior Rasolea tries Jayden Hayward 3 cons) BRUMBIES 15 (Scott Fardy, Tevita Kuridrani tries Christian Leali'ifano con pen) at nib Stadium. Referee: Rohan Hoffman. Crowd: 9,511. Brumbies centre Christian Lealiifano finally got the visitors on the board via a 34th-minute penalty but the Force struck again on the stroke of half-time. Once again it was a quick-tap that caught the Brumbies off guard, with scrumhalf Alby Mathewson offloading to Ben McCalman for the try. The margin blew out to 18 points in the 46th minute when a sweet offload from Force winger Nick Cummins gifted Junior Rasolea a nicely-worked breakaway try. But the Brumbies hit back hard, with tries to Tevita Kuridrani and Scott Fardy cutting the deficit to just six points with 14 minutes to play.