''You don't need to make it complicated,'' head coach Michael Cheika said. ''When you're on a tackle you've got to make it stick, when you catch a ball you've got to catch a ball, it's that simple.''

Centre Tom Carter said the Waratahs had themselves to blame for missed opportunities.

''I think we feel like we've been in a car crash really, it was a pretty physical game,'' Carter said. ''To come back from the position we were in and get to 17-17 and then not have the inner belief and resolve to close the match out, that's the difference between the Reds who are Super rugby champions and at the top of the Australian conference for two years and the Brumbies. Ultimately against those type of sides you need to tackle better, we missed 45 tackles and that's just not good enough at Super rugby level.''

There were bright spots of course, including the ability to claw back a 14-point deficit and wrest back momentum with 20 minutes to go.

''It felt really good [at 17-17], we had a tough pre-season that taught us to work really hard and last night we had to work really hard to get back into the game,'' reserve back Ben Volavola said.

''We knew we were really in with a chance and we could have really taken that game away from Queensland but it sort of slipped away. We had our heads down and relaxed for a minute and it just took off.''

After a second viewing of the game Cheika decided it was defensive laziness that cost the Waratahs throughout the match.

In the first few minutes Adam Ashley-Cooper and Israel Folau could not stop Reds winger Dom Shipperley from making it over the try line and the same thing was still happening 70 minutes later when Reds back-rower Ed Quirk beat two pairs of defenders to make his match-winning charge before distributing to Ben Tapuai, who crossed to make it 25-17.

''Defence is your insurance and it will get you out of a lot of situations,'' Cheika said.

''We missed a lot of tackles we actually made. We were there, we made the hit and then we fell off. That was the telling factor in the end and not the dropped the ball now I look at it.''

There was good news from the medical staff who could confirm Ashley-Cooper did not sustain any fracture to his neck from a hit from Mike Harris in the first half.

Cheika said he was still stiff but would be monitored through the week to check his availability for the side's first home game against the Rebels on Friday.

But Carter said the hit-out gave the side confidence in their new attacking style.

''Obviously losing a world-class player like Adam Ashley-Cooper doesn't help but I think we adapted really well,'' he said.

''Ben Volavola's try was outstanding and showed what we've worked really hard on. I think we've been criticised in the past for being a bit robotic and not playing enough football and I think [on Saturday] we had the courage to do that.

''But you've got to mix the courage with the execution and the skill so that's the most important thing moving forward.''

Correction: The caption in the original version of this story named the bloodied player as Tom Kingston. In fact he is Michael Hooper.