The DHL Stormers fought hard until the final whistle to earn a 38-38 draw and three log points against Ulster in Belfast on Friday night.
A penalty try at the death saw the visitors draw level, scoring five tries on the night in a pulsating Vodacom URC encounter at the Affidea Stadium.
The home side opened the scoring through South African wing Werner Kok, but were soon reduced to 14 men when captain Ian Henderson saw red for a croc roll which also ended Deon Fourie’s involvement in the game.
The DHL Stormers got on the scoreboard when Evan Roos powered over for his 12th try of the season, after Ntuthuko Mchunu had burst into the 22 after taking a well-timed pass from Warrick Gelant.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was next to score, surging through following some good interplay between forwards and backs and he added a conversion and a penalty shortly afterwards to make it a 10-point lead.
The hosts came right back into it as Kok crossed for his second try and left wing Zac Ward got in on the act to give the Ulstermen a 21-17 advantage at half-time.
The DHL Stormers scored first in the second half to retake the lead, but it was disallowed by the TMO for an earlier tackle in the air and instead it would be Ulster to score next, with fullback Mike Lowry going over in the corner.
The visitors kept coming and eventually got the reward as scrumhalf Imad Khan sniped around a ruck and stretched to score between the poles, making it a two-point game at 26-24.
The DHL Stormers went back in front with as Feinberg-Mngomezulu crossed for his second try, but the scores were level heading into the last 10 minutes after Kok got over in the corner to claim a hat-trick on the night.
Replacement prop Eric O’Sullivan looked to have scored the winning try from Ulster, but the DHL Stormers kept pushing despite being down a man in the closing stages.
Leolin Zas crossed the tryline and couldn’t ground it, but he was tackled illegally by Nathan Doak and a penalty try was awarded to make it 38-38 in the end.
The scorers:
For DHL Stormers:
Tries: Roos, Feinberg-Mngomezulu 2, Khan, penalty try
Cons: Feinberg-Mngomezulu 4
Pen: Feinberg-Mngomezulu
For Ulster:
Tries: Kok 3, Ward, Lowry, O’Sullivan
Cons: Doak 4
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Wandisile Simelane, 13 Dan du Plessis, 12 Damian Willemse, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Imad Khan, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Deon Fourie (captain), 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Adré Smith, 3 Sazi Sandi, 2 André-Hugo Venter, 1
Ntuthuko Mchunu.
Replacements: 16 Paul de Villiers, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Connor Evans, 20 Hacjivah Dayimani, 21 Keke Morabe, 22 Stefan Ungerer, 23 Jurie Matthee.
