Stormers hang on to beat high-flying Ulster
URC REPORT: The Stormers survived a nervy final few minutes to record a 23-20 win over Ulster at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
Ulster had a 78th-minute try disallowed after a sustained period of pressure inside the Stormers' 22.
Dan McFarland’s men looked to have snatched the first victory by a northern hemisphere side in South Africa in the United Rugby Championship at the death, but a lengthy TMO review ruled that the ball had been knocked from Callum Reid’s grasp as he went over.
The Irish province paid the price for conceding two tries in the opening seven minutes, with Paul De Wet and Leolin Zas both going over and Manie Libbok converting both.
Marty Moore and Stuart McCloskey responded for Ulster either side of half-time and John Cooney kicked 10 points.
However, a trio of Libbok penalties proved enough keep the Stormers’ noses in front as Ulster missed a chance to turn up the heat on leaders Leinster, who they trailed by a single point coming into the weekend.
The Stormers scored a combined 15 tries in their matches against Zebre Parma and Cardiff over the previous two weekends and looked set to continue their free-scoring form after a pair of early tries.
Warrick Gelant released Zas in the second minute, with the wing eventually passing inside to De Wet to sprint over.
Zas then crossed himself when he was found in space on the left wing, shortly after Gelant had been stopped agonisingly short on the opposite flank.
Libbok converted both tries for an early 14-0 lead, but the deficit was halved in the 22nd minute when Moore barged his way over from close range and Cooney converted following a period of sustained Ulster pressure.
A penalty carried Libbok past 100 URC points for the season, but Ulster were dominating possession and territory and a pair of Cooney efforts from the tee made it 17-13.
Libbok split the posts from 40 metres to re-establish the seven-point cushion with the last action of the first half and took it back to 10 after 54 minutes.
However, McCloskey squeezed his way between two Stormers tacklers to touch down three minutes later and Cooney converted to set up a tense finish.
Ulster were celebrating when Reid crashed over two minutes from time, but – just as Billy Burns was lining up the conversion – a lengthy TMO deliberation fell in the Stormers’ favour as the South Africans held on for a third straight win in a dramatic finish.
Man of the Match
Evan Roos is in a rich vein of form and he continued that high level of performance against Ulster.
His ball-carrying ability is always a threat and his six successful carries were more than anyone else on the field could manage, while he beat three defenders.
Play of the match
The Stormers got off to a dream start with a well-worked counter-attacking try.
After Billy Burns’ kick downfield was collected by Libbok, Gelant’s clever dummy allowed him to sneak a pass to Zas, who raced away before playing in eventual try-scorer De Wet.
The scorers:
For Stormers:
Tries: De Wet, Zas
Cons: Libbok 2
Pens: Libbok 3
For Ulster:
Tries: Moore, McCloskey
Cons: Cooney 2
Pens: Conney 2
Teams:
Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ernst van Rhyn, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Adre Smith, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Junior Pokomela, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Rikus Pretorius.
Ulster: 15 Mike Lowry, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Rob Lyttle, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Marcus Rea, 6 Greg Jones, 5 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (captain), 3 Marty Moore, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Eric O’Sullivan.
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Mick Kearney, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Luke Marshall, 23 Ethan McIlroy.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Cwengile Jadezweni, Dylan November (both South Africa)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)
Additional source: @URCOfficial