Ulster ended the first block of regular season matches with defeat, as the Stormers took a 33-7 victory in Round 5 of the BKT United Rugby Championship at DHL Stadium.
It was an attritional battle to start the contest in a sweltering Cape Town. The Stormers showed their elite line speed with a number of impressive clean breaks but a resolute Ulster defence and a number of handling errors by the home side managed to keep the South Africans at bay in the opening ten minutes.
It was a familiar story as the game progressed, with the Stormers handling errors nullifying any of their attacking threat. Ulster begun to get in on the act themselves, with Ethan McIlroy producing some impressive carries to give Ulster go forward ball.
Ulster were given their first chance to chip away at the Stormers rearguard thanks to a dropped ball from Springbok World-Cup winner, Damian Willemse.
David McCann scooped up the ball to maraud up the pitch, before an opportunistic dart over the line by Matthew Devine looked to have given Ulster the lead, however a TMO check ruled that Devine did not have full control of the ball in the grounding.
With penalty advantage being played, Ulster got right back to work and it did not take long for the away side to find the gap in the defence as the ever impressive McCann, powered over to give Ulster the first score of the contest. Jack Murphy made no mistake from the tee to give Ulster a 7-0 lead.
Ulster not looking to rest on their laurels were back on the offensive, as a Devine cross field kick was a fortuitous bounce away from finding Zac Ward on the wing.
Ulster’s attack continued to purr, as a perfectly executed 50/22 from Jack Murphy gives Ulster great attacking position.
After winning the lineout, a scrum penalty to Ulster allowed Devine to get the ball in and out at pace to attack the try line, coming up just shy, before an unfortunate knock-on resulted in a penalty to the Stormers.
The home side started to turn up the heat on the Ulster defence, forcing Ulster into a series of penalties, resulting in Keynan Knox being the unfortunate recipient of a yellow card after an accumulation of penalties.
Ulster stayed resolute, winning a penalty on a goalline lineout to deny the Stormers parity in the contest.
The Stormers not to be deterred, continued their ascent up the pitch and after a series of powerful carries and a slick offload from Ntuthuko Mchunu, allowed JD Shickerling to ground the ball.
Yaqeen Ahmed just beat the shot clock to even up the contest at 7-7.
Ulster were left to rue their errors, as an attempted clearing kick by Jack Murphy was blocked by Paul De Villiers and the bounce was kind for the young South African international, as he grounded the ball to give the home side the lead.
Ahmed missed the conversion to make it 12-7 at the half-time whistle.
HT: DHL Stormers 12-7 Ulster Rugby
Despite a front footed start to the second half, Ulster were again left to rue a costly error.
An attacking scrum was sent backwards by the Stormers pack, and forced Matthew Devine to try keep the ball alive. His throw was picked up by Evan Roos who then won the foot race to the Ulster whitewash to extend the home side's lead. Ahmed added the extras to make it 19-7.
It continued to be a very physical battle in Cape Town, with the heat beginning to influence proceedings.
Ulster were also forced into more reshuffling, replacement back Chay Mullins had to leave due to injury.
The away team tried to battle away and reduce the deficit, but a resolute Stormers defence and a series of turnovers did not give Ulster the opportunities to attack the Stormers that they craved.
Stormers stuck to the task, continuing to threaten Ulster and the increasing pressure resulted in the home side extending their lead.
An expertly placed cross field kick found centre, Ruhan Nel, who out leaped Conor McKee to run in the Stormers fourth try of the contest.
Under pressure from the clock, Yaqeen Ahmed slotted the conversion to make the score 26-7.
The Stormers now had their tails up, a turnover from Ulster around midfield allowed them to fly up the pitch, eventually finding Yaqeen Ahmed who showed his blistering pace to dart over the line and cap off phenomenal performance from the Stormers 10.
He perfectly draws the conversion from right to left to make the score 33-7.
This capped off the contest at DHL Stadium as Ulster leave Cape Town empty handed after their efforts.
After three weeks on the road to end an intense first block of the season, rugby switches to the international window this November, with Ulster aiming to regroup for a fixture-packed period in December.
FT: DHL Stormers 33-7 Ulster Rugby
Scorers
DHL Stormers
TRY: Schickerling, De Villiers, Roos, R Nel, Ahmed
CON: Ahmed (4)
Ulster Rugby
TRY: David McCann
CON: Jack Murphy
Teams
Ulster:
1. Eric O’Sullivan, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Keynan Knox, 4. Ben Donnell, 5. Eli Snyman, 6. Cormac Izuchukwu, 7. David McCann (C), 8. Juarno Augustus, 9. Matthew Devine, 10. Jack Murphy, 11. Zac Ward, 12. Ben Carson, 13. James Hume, 14. Michael Lowry, 15. Ethan McIlroy
Replacements:
16. Henry Walker, 17. Tom McAllister, 18. Scott Wilson, 19. Harry Sheridan, 20. Martin Moloney, 21. Conor McKee, 22. Jake Flannery, 23. Chay Mullins
DHL Stormers:
15 Damian Willemse, 14 Seabelo Senatla, 13 Ruhan Nel (captain), 12 Markus Muller, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Yaqeen Ahmed, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Louw Nel, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 JD Schickerling, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Vernon Paulo, 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16. Altus Rabe , 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Neethling Fouché, 19 Riley Norton, 20 Connor Evans, 21 Wandile Mlaba, 22 Haashim Pead, 23 Wandisile Simelane