Edinburgh captain Grant Gilchrist said his side went "off-script" at key moments as they let a lead slip late on against the Bulls in Pretoria. 

Edinburgh held a one-point lead inside the final quarter of an hour, but conceded a try when they lost possession on the Bulls' line before the hosts went the length of the field to score through Springboks wing Canan Moodie. 

From there on, the Bulls took control and Edinburgh's cause was further hampered by a yellow card to hooker Ewan Ashman, while they also gave away a soft penalty at a lineout 5m from the Bulls line as the backs strayed offside.

A frustrated Gilchrist offered his take on the key moments post-match. 

He said: "When we get to 13-12 with a metre to go to score, then we end up conceding seven, that was a huge moment.

"The maul 5m out when the backs joined early was another huge moment that you just can't do at this level. You can't pass up on those chances and expect to win."

Gilchrist said Edinburgh went away from the gameplan when they got to within striking distance of the Bulls' line. 

"Some of it is on the individual and some of it we went off plan," the Scotland lock said. 

"When we got to a metre out, we started throwing long passes and we'd get knocked back to 5m again whereas last week we were really efficient in that area, and we were over the course of last season as well."

After two defeats to kick-off the season, Gilchrist knows Edinburgh need to sort those errors as they prepare to face the Lions in Johannesburg next weekend. 

He added: "It's about individuals taking responsibility - collectively we have to stick to the plan and if individuals are going off that, it costs the team.

"We have to look at that and make sure we're all on the right page because we need to win next weekend."

But Gilchrist is confident Edinburgh can put things right this week before they run out at Emirates Airline Park next Saturday. 

"We need to dust ourselves down and look at the individual and collective things we did differently to what we planned to do," he said. 

"There's going to be a lot of stuff that was working for us, so it's about keeping the good stuff and tidying up those mistakes that were leading to turnovers.

"It will be the same scenario next weekend, if we aren't ruthless with our own opportunities and we give turnovers, they will punish us the same way the Bulls did.

"It's making sure when we get in [try-scoring] positions, we are really ruthless and we don't give oxygen to these teams that can hurt you from distance."

Given the position they put themselves in with 15 minutes to go, it is hard to disagree with Gilchrist's assessment that Edinburgh should have won in Pretoria. 

He added: "We're really disappointed because we're good enough to come here and have won, and on the basis of the game and the opportunities created, we should have won. It's about making sure we don't lose sight of that."

A small crumb of comfort for the capital club was the dominance of their scrum, where Paul Hill and Pierre Schoeman put the Bulls under huge pressure. 

Gilchrist knows they will need a repeat performance in Johannesburg. 

"The boys were huge today and we're going to need that throughout the whole season, but especially next week in South Africa.

"Your set-piece is going to get a stern examination, but we stood up as one of the more positive aspects of the game today"

And Gilchrist said while his side will feel the pain of the defeat against last year's beaten finalists, they will take heart from the first hour's display.

He added: "You've got to feel defeats so we should be disappointed, but we're not going to put our heads down.

"We're not a poor team - poor teams don't come here and give themselves the opportunities that we did. We've got to look at the bigger picture that everything is there for us."