But despite a clinical performance in attack and a monumental display in defence, the understrength minnows were unable to hold out the might of the best of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh rugby combined on Wednesday, going down 36-24.
The contest at times seemed on the cusp of running away from the Brumbies, the rank outsiders pre-match, but they held firm in the face of constant pressure at GIO Stadium.
In the end, the 12-point margin was a fair reflection of proceedings and would have encouraged Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, watching on in the Canberra cold ahead of the first of three Test matches on July 19.
There's little the former Ireland coach doesn't already know about the Irish-centric Lions squad, but there were certainly some lessons to be learned.
"We had a bit of a tactic there to put contestable kicks up, and they handled them pretty well, so he might learn a little bit out of that," Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said.
"Their scrum felt pretty dominant, so there's a few fixes there, but they've got one of the best scrum coaches in the world, if not the best (in Mike Cron) so they'll be looking through the tapes on that."
The visitors, who ran out with a star-studded side against an understrength Brumbies line-up missing the likes of Allan Alaalatoa, Rob Valetini and Tom Wright, again lacked fluency.
Coach Andy Farrell called the performance a "nice step forward" post-game.
The alarm bells might not be ringing, but following an unconvincing 21-10 win over the NSW Waratahs at the weekend, there's plenty to work on for them before the real test begins.
"I thought we dominated the game," the Englishman said.
"But we kept the Brumbies in the game and they were good enough to be able to capitalise on some of the areas of ill-discipline to cause some problems themselves. So plenty to do, obviously."
Adding to Farrell's troubles was another injury blow, this time to fullback Blair Kinghorn.
The 28-year-old Scot was forced from the field in the 25th minute after appearing to suffer a knee injury. It leaves Irishman Hugo Keenan as the lone recognised fullback in the squad, after Elliot Daly was sent home earlier in the tour with a broken arm.
Farrell found Kinghorn in good spirits after the game, but the prognosis is still unclear.
The Brumbies remain the only Australian Super Rugby team to have tasted victory over the Lions since 1971, with their 14-12 win 12 years ago unlikely to be matched any time soon.
But another giant-slaying appeared to be on the cards after the hosts came out of the gates the stronger of the sides.
Following a succession of pick and drives on the Lions' line, Tuaina Taii Tualima vaulted over the ruck to plant the ball down and open the scoring.
The Brumbies' lead wouldn't last long however, with Lions lock Ollie Chessum scoring on the left edge to push his case for selection in the Tests.
Winger James Lowe put the visitors ahead in the 29th minute, where they remained until the final whistle.
The Brumbies hit back through winger Corey Toole, who alongside Ryan Lonergan pressed his case for Wallabies selection, before Marcus Smith scored for the Lions on the stroke of halftime.
In their first three games against Australian sides, the Lions surged over their tiring opponents in the second half.
But the Brumbies wouldn't fold.Â
ACT replacement Hudson Creighton negated a Garry Ringrose try in the 52nd minute, before hooker Liam Bowron again hit back for the Brumbies after Josh van der Flier scored for the Lions off a rolling maul.
After Tom Hooper was given an 80th minute yellow card in his final Brumbies game, the home side appeared to have conceded a final try to Chessum but the TMO ruled the Englishman was held up over the line - drawing one last cheer from the 23,116-strong crowd.
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