The Blue Bulls were leading 13-8 at the break, but they could never get out of second gear and they struggled to build up any sort of momentum.

Denzil Frans, who is the stand in coach for Nico Serfontein who is currently with the SA under 20’s, said that the Bulls were very poor on the ground and that their game was hampered with errors.

“The Griffons had the better of us on the ground and we could never get our fast pace tempo going, but we are pleased with the win and we will only get better from here.

“The Griffons’ kicking game was superior to ours and that meant that we could not get out of our own half. When we did get the odd chance to play in their half we always got some points, but on the whole we did not deliver a quality performance.

“It was, however, expected because we haven’t had proper time to prepare as a team but as we get used to one another our performance as a team will dramatically improve.”

The backline coach, Ricardo Loubscher, said that there weren’t any real standout players on the night for the Bulls, but he is delighted with the win under difficult circumstances.

“We’ve got a very good team on paper, but we aren’t gelling at the moment. We picked up four points and we will only perk up from here.”

Scorers:
Vodacom Blue Bulls: Try: Jaco Engels. Conversion: Francois Brummer. Penalties: Francois Brummer (5).

Griffons: Try: Jan-Louis Coetzee. Penalties: Hugo Kleynhans (4).