Mann-Rea's rise from a youngster in Narromine to a coal worker in Wollongong and then member of the Wallabies squad is a well-known one but it could all be over for the veteran 38-year-old after a suspected ACL injury.

Mann-Rea left the park with what was described as a "significant" knee injury in the 61st minute of the Brumbies' stirring win over the Cape Town Stormers at Newlands Stadium on Saturday.

Already off-contract at the end of the season, Mann-Rea faces an uphill battle to play Super Rugby again with the Brumbies boasting a young pair of hookers on the rise.

Injury would be a cruel way to bow out for the former Wallaby, who Brumbies chief executive Phil Thomson says is among the most respected faces in the club.

"They've just got to get scans done properly, obviously it is a suspected ACL but we will get him scanned up and see someone here before we know exactly what the diagnosis is," Thomson said on Monday.

"We will give him time to understand what is the next step and then we will sit down and have a chat with him around his future. Realistically, he is 38 years of age so it is probably close to the end for him. It's going to be a tough one.

Mann-Rea's injury was the lone dampener on a stunning Brumbies victory over the Stormers that saw them eke out a two-point victory despite possessing just 30 per cent of the ball.

Mann-Rea had come on shortly after half-time in place of regular hooker Folau Fainga'a.

The match in South Africa could well be Mann-Rea's last in a career blighted by injuries in recent times.

The Narromine product stunned many when he announced he was playing this season after missing most of last year following a hamstring injury which saw muscle teared off the bone.

Mann-Rea didn't make his debut for the Brumbies until he was 31, he was working in the mines prior to that.

After making an impact with the side from Canberra, the hooker went on to play two tests for the Wallabies.