- Recap all the action as it happened in our blog at the bottom of the story.
Ryan Lonergan hopes the biggest Brumbies crowd in almost two decades can kickstart a rugby revival in the ACT, wondering if the legacy of a British and Irish Lions tour is the shot "rugby in Canberra has been waiting for".
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Because you only had to close your eyes for the briefest of moments to believe. The noise. The vibration. The unbridled joy that comes with hope.
Rugby union was back to its glory days in Canberra on Wednesday night, even if that belief and hope faded in the second half as the all-star British and Irish Lions beat the ACT Brumbies 36-24 in front of 23,116 fans.
It was the biggest rugby crowd in Canberra since since more than 27,000 watched the ACT play the NSW Waratahs in 2005 - the year after the Brumbies' last title with the greats still lacing up the boots.
The Brumbies and rugby was at its peak back then, but it's been a lean decade since the Lions were last in town.
So crowd and hype aside the result was sweet revenge for the Lions, who were stunned by the Brumbies when they last came to Canberra in 2013, and pushed to the brink 12 years prior.
Rugby in the capital - and in Australia more broadly - has struggled since then.
But the sight of grown men bouncing out of their seats for a cuddle and the look in their eyes when Corey Toole flew over the line before half-time told a different story.
There is a soul there, hidden away and only emerging occasionally.
The hope is that the excitement was enough to convince people to come back next year when the Brumbies return to the field. That's obviously easier said than done, given the fanfare that comes with the Lions and the tourists that follow.
The reality is the afterglow of the Lions will wear off, and Super Rugby crowds won't dramatically increase.
But at some point there has to be a step in the right direction, and Lonergan hopes Canberra moved that way on Wednesday.
"Running out in front of all of those people is something I will never forget," Brumbies captain Lonergan said.
"I hope everyone enjoyed it in the stands. Disappointed we couldn't get the result but it was a quality game. Maybe it's something rugby in Canberra has been waiting for, you know? Maybe it's going to kickstart us back up, and hopefully our numbers grow next year.
"I can say it was just one of the most enjoyable games I've played here in Canberra, purely because of the atmosphere."
Perhaps the surprising part was that some touring journalists felt the game lacked atmosphere and was "flat" in energy from the crowd. Imagine had they been at some of the Super Rugby contests over the past decade or so.
Rugby was alive for this game. Granted, with a crowd of event-goers as well as rusted-on rugby fans, but it was alive.
And for a couple of moments in the first half, the fans genuinely believed lightning could strike twice.
But it couldn't, could it? Not when Lions coach Andy Farrell had wheeled out a squad expected to mirror that for the opening Test against the Wallabies on July 19, while Stephen Larkham was missing eight front-line stars.
But the Brumbies weren't going to die wondering. Tuaina Taii Tualima crashed over for the opening try inside the opening five minutes.
Toole picked as good a time as any to answer a question about his defensive nous and sent a reminder to Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt that he is waiting in the wings, while the red jersey to Tom Hooper and Lachie Lonergan might as well have been a red rag to a bull.
The class of the Lions would eventually shine through. Ollie Chessum levelled the ledger before James Lowe put the tourists ahead in front of a small sea of red at the southern end, one that will grow by thousands by the time rugby's greatest roadshow arrives in Brisbane.
But their cheers for tries and chants of 'Lions' paled in comparison to the roar reverberating around Canberra Stadium when Toole returned serve at the other end of the ground.
Toole's try just before the break gave everyone hope, and made the Lions a little nervous. But an error from the drop-out moments later came back to haunt the Brumbies - and what should have been a 12-10 half-time scoreline became 19-10 in the blink of an eye.
The Brumbies were never seriously within striking distance, and coach Stephen Larkham felt his side spent "80 per cent of the game" in their defensive half.
That was probably an accurate reflection of what happened, but every time the game threatened to blow out, the Brumbies answered and restored respect.
Toole scored a second try in the second half and hooker Liam Bowron burrowed over from close range late in the game when the Brumbies' finally got an attacking chance.
In the end, the Lions scored five tries to the Brumbies' four, the major difference being the 11 points from the boot of Finn Russell.
In fact, the Lions took a penalty shot at goal in the second half to make sure they smothered any chance of a Brumbies comeback.
Why was that moment important? Because it was the first penalty attempt the Lions had taken after four games on tour. Talk about respect, even though the Wallaby-less Brumbies were severely under-strength.
"Coming out of the game without the win is disappointing, it's not about playing against the Lions, it's the opportunity to beat the Lions, and we didn't do that," Larkham said.
"But there were some really good performances out there, I think the guys stepped up exceptionally well.
"If you look back 12 years ago and even further back to 2001, guys come out of this game and this experience a better player and I'm hoping it leads to opportunities down the track for players such as Ryan [Lonergan]."
It says a lot about Larkham and the Brumbies that they walked away disappointed rather than buzzing from the experience, even though they played in front of the sort of crowd that evokes memories of the Brumbies heyday.
The crowd figure marked the biggest turnout for a Brumbies home game since their stunning upset of the Lions 12 years ago. Forget lightning striking twice for a second, rugby bosses were wondering how they could catch lightning in a bottle.
Brumbies crowds have hovered around the 8000 mark for years. Their biggest home crowd of the Super Rugby season - which saw them reach a fourth consecutive semi-final - was boosted by the Ilona Maher factor during a double-header with the Wallaroos and USA.
Finding a way to reconnect with rugby fans will be high on Roff's agenda after being appointed Brumbies chairman, with chief executive Phil Thomson poised to leave his post at the end of the week and bring down the curtain on an association with the club which dates back to its inception.
As for winning back the crowds? The Lions game could be enough to convince at least a few onlookers to come back again next year.
Maybe you'll have to forgive the die-hards for dreaming, but this week felt like people were excited about rugby in Canberra again.
You can't help but be swept up in the hype of a Lions tour. Lington Ieli would go unnoticed by some Brumbies fans in the street, but he went toe-to-toe with the Lions. Cameron Orr flew in from Seattle last week.
Lachie Hooper hadn't played Super Rugby. But he played against the Lions - and did it alongside his brother. They'll be telling that story out in Bathurst for years.
Who said romance in rugby was dead?
AT A GLANCE
British and Irish Lions tour game: BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS 36 (Ollie Chessum, James Lowe, Marcus Smith, Garry Ringrose, Josh van der Flier tries; Finn Russell 4 conversions; Russell penalty) bt ACT BRUMBIES 24 (Tuaina Taii Tualima, Corey Toole, Hudson Creighton, Liam Bowron tries; Ryan Lonergan, Jack Debreczeni conversions) at Canberra Stadium. Crowd: 23,116. Man of the match: Jamison Gibson-Park.
