"Both have got a lot of knowledge and we came together and worked on it during the game. They made it a lot easier for me, especially Ma'a," Anscombe said.
Coach Pat Lam lauded his five-eighths "outstanding effort" and said the plan had been to introduce Anscombe when the team's test imports were ready to play.
Anscombe had played on an outer ground at Loftus last year with the Blues development squad and found how the ball travelled so much further on the high veldt. He missed a couple of longer-range attempts yesterday when he tried to belt his kicks before he succeeded with a game-clinching 55m penalty just short of fulltime.
"That was my best kick, the last one and I took it because Kev [Mealamu] wanted to wind the clock down."
Those tactics and the Bulls' sloppy work was too much for one fan who somehow evaded security and threw a bottle which hit Blues captain Mealamu after the final whistle.
"They've got it on footage and he will be in a lot of trouble," Lam said. "The police got him and they will go through the process."
Mealamu was unhurt in the scuffle and later claimed that victory allowed his side to stay in the competition arm-wrestle, nothing more. Progress was a week-by-week grind, he said.
The Blues hinted early they wanted to push possession wide to the flanks to pull the Bulls away from their usual patterns and negate their kick-return game and potent driving mauls.
There were mistakes, but the Bulls were not eager - or gifted - enough to profit. Instead they conceded Anscombe's opening try when he collected a muffed pass and ran 50m. Soon after, he goaled a scrum penalty.
Blues lock Ali Williams went to the sinbin for several infringements and Bulls skipper Pierre Spies drove over from one maul with the extra-man advantage. The visitors were battling at the breakdown and their lineout was also struggling.
However, another sustained piece of momentum gave Anscombe his second try in support and the Blues an improbable 20-8 halftime lead. The Bulls had been negligent and unenterprising and that pattern continued until the final quarter when they changed some players and their style.
The Blues whistled up their reserves, Anscombe kicked a further three penalties while Bulls wing Bjorn Basson scored twice in the final eight frenzied minutes as his side claimed a bonus point.
Lam mentioned his relief after the disappointments of defeats to the Crusaders and Chiefs. It had been a combative team effort after their lack of recent success in Pretoria.
The keys had been the strong defence, some ruthless application in the contact area even if it was not always productive and a sensible kicking approach. "Overall the main thing was to get a result," Lam said.
That was paramount, but they will have to sweat on judicial inquiries into Rene Ranger's clumsy late in-goal tackle on Basson which earned him a yellow and white card from referee Stave Walsh. The Blues have only 10 backs on tour and, with Ranger cited after the match, they might need to call on a replacement for this week's game with the Stormers in Cape Town.
Sanzar's citing commissioner said the incident had met the red card threshold for foul play.
