Australian rugby sank to a miserable low on a cold night as the Johannesburg Lions scrapped and fought their way to a 13-6 win at Canberra Stadium.

Coach Stephen Larkham described the rut as embarrassing but says his players won't give up in the fight to save their campaign.

The Brumbies haven't scored a try in the past two-and-a-half games ??? the club's longest try drought in 10 years ??? and they've lost four games in a row for the first time since their disastrous 2011 season.

Their 2017 campaign is hanging in the balance with just three wins from 10 games.

Remarkably the Brumbies will still be the best-ranked Australian team at the end of the weekend but there's been nothing pretty about this season.

"There's been six games we've lost by seven points or less. It's tough and heartbreaking, it's something we're obviously embarrassed and disappointed with," Larkham said.

"We had some chances in both halves ... there are little things we have to work on and we're seeing all of these games we're losing ... we're just not getting it quite right."

The Brumbies dominated almost every facet of the game against the Lions but couldn't break through a brick wall as errors crippled every opportunity.

It was symbolic of Australian rugby's year of lows. Rugby has been smashed on and off the field and Australian teams have won just three of 32 games against overseas opponents.

The results are black eyes on the game as a whole and the Brumbies just happen to be the best of a bad bunch.

If there can be a positive it's that the Brumbies pocketed another important bonus point and they still hold a lead on the ladder.

But they lost the ball 19 times on a slippery night and must now travel to South Africa and Argentina hoping to resurrect their year.

"We just didn't capitalise on our opportunities, we had plenty of line breaks and territory but when it mattered we couldn't get the result," said skipper Sam Carter.

"It was a big contest through the whole 80 minutes. There were a lot of turnovers ... we're going to have to recover well and stick to what we're doing. A bit of execution in crucial moments [has to change]."

The Brumbies had a try denied in the first half and then squandered chances after the break as the Lions found a way to win three consecutive games against Australian teams.

It's the first time in Lions history they have completed a clean-sweep tour of Australia.

"It was a grind out there. Gee it was as tough battle, we knew it was going to be. Conditions were slippery so we had to keep it tight. We had to fight for that victory. It was a tough battle," said skipper Warren Whiteley.

"We're really proud of the performances over the past three weeks. But we're not taking anyone for granted."

The Brumbies started the game looking for a spark and invited grandmothers, mums, wives, girlfriends of the players on to the field for some last-minute motivation.

It almost proved the perfect tonic just four minutes in when James Dargaville appeared to score in the corner.

But Australian rugby can't buy luck at the moment and the television match official stopped play to find Brumbies scrumhalf Joe Powell knocked on at the base of the ruck beforehand.

The Brumbies were camped in their attacking 22-metre zone for almost the entire first 20 minutes but only had three points to show for it after having to settle for a penalty.

The Lions had so little possession in the opening stages they forgot what the ball looked liken as the Brumbies bombed opportunities to make them pay on the scoreboard.

The first half never reached any great heights and the Brumbies must have felt like they were banging their head against a brick wall.

Time and time again they held the ball for long periods but barely made any inroads as the frustrated crowd sat patiently in chilly conditions.

The positive was that the Brumbies spent so much time with the ball the Lions started to freeze and appeared disjointed every time they got possession.

The Brumbies held on to a 3-0 advantage at half-time, but it should have been so much more after having 63 per cent possession and running the Lions made twice as many tackles.

The Lions finally made a dent on the scoreboard when Elton Jantjies slotted a penalty to level score in the 52nd minute.

Just minutes later they ruthlessly exposed a woeful mistake from the Brumbies when Aidan Toua's pass went to no one and Kwagga Smith ran 62 metres for the first try of the game.

The Brumbies cut the margin when Wharenui Hawera slotted his second penalty and his halves partner Powell tried to ignite the home side's attack.

But their inability to execute in the crucial moments cost them any chance of winning as the Lions held on for a massive win in the capital.

JOHANNESBURG LIONS 13 (Kwagga Smith try; Elton Jantjies con, Jantjies, Andries Coetzee pens) bt ACT BRUMBIES 6 (Wharenui Hawera 2 pens) at Canberra Stadium on Friday night. Referee: Paul Williams. Crowd: 8034.