From their best performance of the season to defeat an in-form Walcha, Pirates produced their worst on Saturday as Scone sprung the upset of the season.
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Boasting just the one win and languishing second last, not many people would have given the Brumbies much of a chance against the resurgent premiers - even at home.
But they made their second win one to remember, twice fighting back from a try down to claim one of their biggest triumphs in recent memory 26-19.
Pirates' first loss since Round 5, a frustrated co-coach Mick Squires said it was chalk and cheese to the previous week.
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"Not just from the way we played but the feel of the game," he said.
He said there was "nothing wrong" with their effort, but they just weren't "up to our standards" or allowed to be.
"Take nothing away form Scone, they played really smart with the game plan they had," he said.
"They dragged us into the mud and we decided we'd join them."
"We went down to that level."
They were still right in the match, and had their chances to at least snatch a draw after the Brumbies had scored two tries in the space of five minutes to take the lead with 15 minutes remaining.
"At one stage I thought we were going to sneak out of it with an ugly draw," Squires said, noting that they had five tries disallowed in the last 10 minutes.
Their cause wasn't helped by their illdiscipline. They had three players yellow-carded and for about seven minutes in the second half were down to only 13.
That really hurt them, he said.
Losing Doug Biffin in the first half to "a really bad head cut" didn't help either with the backrower one of their best against the Rams.
They will now look to reset ahead of what shapes as a season-defining three weeks.
Starting with Narrabri next Saturday they tackle the three sides they lost to in the first round.
"I told the boys at the end of the game, it's a game you forget," Squires said.
On a positive note Damian Reti got through about 25 minutes making his return from injury.
"He's obviously still looking for a bit of match fitness," Squires said.
"[But] He looked sharp."
With Inverell getting up over Walcha in another upset, 38-29, and Gunnedah accounting for Barraba 50-15, the loss saw Pirates leapfrogged by both to drop back from second to fourth.
In the other game Moree avenged for their first meeting loss to Quirindi, charging to a 61-34 win.
