Ulster recover from big early deficit to beat Stormers

Ulster (17) 38

Cons: Cooney 2, Murphy, Doak, Warwick, Murphy, Stockdale, Ward, Moore, Baloucoune, Warwick,

Stormers (17) 34

In Friday’s frantic United Rugby Championship encounter at Kingspan Stadium, Ulster rallied from a 17-0 deficit with six tries in a battling 38-34 victory over the Stormers.

The visitors took a sizable early lead thanks to goals from Evan Roos and Ben Loader, but scores from Robert Baloucoune, Andrew Warwick, and Jack Murphy kept the score level at halftime.

After the break, Stockdale crossed for the bonus-point try before the South African side sent off Neethling Fouche for a risky challenge on Ben Carson.

Willie Engelbrecht and Roos scored tries for the Stormers to keep themselves within striking distance, while Zac Ward and Stewart Moore also made the Irish province debut.

For the first time in a row, Ulster won three games. In order to reach the top eight, which would guarantee a spot in the end-of-season knockout stages and Champions Cup qualification, they move up to fifth place in the table.

After the hosts had already turned over on their own 22, back-rower Roos raced away with a second-minute lead before Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu played him through a gaping hole in the Ulster defense.

The visiting fly-half added the extras and then quickly scored from long range to make it 10-0.

After Dave McCann’s pass in the tackle on halfway broke and was latched on to by the wing, Loader broke away and made a superb start. From the right-hand touchline, Berg-Mngomezulu kicked the conversion.

Baloucoune made his 11th appearance in 11 minutes by going over in the corner after receiving Murphy’s 20-yard spin pass.

After the first half, the home side were relieved of their possession and pressure, and Cooney added the second point with a close-range shot from Warwick.

After the ball fell 35 meters off the tee, Richie Murphy’s side were let go and scored a penalty, which Feinberg-Mngomezulu headed from the spot.

The Stormers number 10 was again in the action when Baloucoune was shown a yellow card for striking him in full flight after the wing had propelled the ball into space.

After the break, Ulster made a storming start on the restart by touching down for his team’s bonus-point score.

When Ulster chose to tap and go for a penalty, Mike Lowry unselfishly passed the ball to Stockdale, who cantered over. Cooney’s kick put two goals in front of the other.

After consulting with the Television Match Official]TMO, the Stormers suffered a further setback when captain Fouche was sent off by referee Andrea Pairdi.

The prop was found to have struck Carson’s head head head head, which caused him to leave the field hurt.

When Feinberg-Mngomezulu returned to the field after 10 minutes in the bin, scoring a second drop goal, this time firing between the sticks from 40 yards, to lower his team’s deficit.

However, Ulster scored try number five after that was only a short respite. Before being offloaded to the right flank by flying replacement Ward, who ran over the line, Stockdale burst through the middle of the field. Murphy was just tasked with adding the conversion from the posts’ posts’ top.

However, the Stormers were not finished when substitute Feinberg-Mngomezulu added the two points, leaving only four players in the middle, as Engelbrecht did in the opposite direction.

Lowry scorched down the right flank before passing to Nick Timoney, Doak, Moore, and Moore who ran over over the uprights, making it Ulster’s sixth try. With his team’s 11-point advantage, Doak’s kick extended it.

The Stormers rallied once more as Roos fired over from close range for his second of the night, bringing their side within four.

Tom Stewart, Callum Reid, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, James McNabney, Nathan Doak, Ben Carson, and Zac Ward are the replacements.

DHL Stormers: Damian Willemse, Ben Loader, Suleiman Hartzenberg, Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Dewaldt Duvenage, Ali Vermaak, Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouche (capt), Connor Evans, Ruben van Heerden, Dave Ewers, Marcel Theunissen, Evan Roos, and Dave Ewers.