Doncaster Knights: Griffiths rues bad luck as Knights come unstuck against Jersey

Knights went down 27-17 in the Championship Cup Pool 2 tussle - a result which cost them second spot in the group.

“Both their first and last tries should have been ruled out but we aren’t getting the rub of the green at the moment,” said Griffiths.

“There was an obstruction in the build-up to their first try and a clear knock-on in the line-out from which their fourth try was scored.

“Take those 12 points off their total and we win the game which I felt we deserved to do.

“We played some very good rugby though we didn’t capitalise on that and the tries we did score were all from close range and you could probably argue that they were more clinical than we were.

“We certainly didn’t help ourselves by losing several line-outs when we were close to their line.

“We were unlucky to be 10-7 down at the break but we got it back to 13-12 and it was anybody’s game going into the final quarter.”

The game saw the debut of Namibian international back-rower Wian Conradie.

“He had a very good game and he’s going to get better and you could see why we signed him,” said Griffiths, who had boosted the club’s pack on Friday by signing Tongan international back-rower Fotu Lokotui for the rest of the season.

“He kept Jack Ram out of the side in the recent World Cup, which shows he is must be a good player."

No 8 Sam Moore, who joined the club on loan from Sale Sharks last week, was stretchered off with a dislocated knee cap in the first half.

“It just reflected the luck we have been having this season because he had been outstanding for us,” said Griffiths who was also pleased with the contribution of another Sale debutant Gus Warr standing in for scrum-half Tom James who was ruled out with a virus.