Evan Roos scored a try in the final 10 minutes as the DHL Stormers snatched another late victory over Ulster in Cape Town on Saturday.

A 75th-minute converted maul try from Roos saw the DHL Stormers claim a 13-7 win in a game they trailed for most of the contest.

The win sees the Stormers at least temporarily climb to fourth on the table and keeps them in the race for a home Vodacom URC playoff.

However, the Stormers had to do it the hard way once again in a game that was eerily similar to the previous visit from Ulster in the 2021-22 semi-finals.

Once again, Ulster took an early lead, this time through No 8 Nick Timoney’s try, and dominated possession and territory for most of the first half.

By half time, the Stormers had yet to get themselves on the board and could count themselves fortunate to only be trailing by seven points, as they had to make 72 tackles and only saw 33% possession in the first half.

While the home side saw far more ball in the second half, they were still error-prone and often forced passes and offloads as Ulster held out against wave after wave of attack.

Frans Malherbe’s introduction in the second half seemed to lift the hosts and although his much-hyped battle with Steven Kitshoff only lasted one scrum, it was the Stormers man who got a vital penalty against the head, which Libbok converted to open their account.

The Stormers started to find far more space from there, as Ulster lost loose forward David McCann to a yellow card, but the visitors scrambled well to see out the period without conceding further.

In similar fashion to how they won the semi-final in 2022, the Stormers finally found a way through in the final 10 minutes, with Roos grounding the ball from a powerful maul.

Replacement hooker JJ Kotze then kicked a sensational 50-22 after breaking from his own 22. From there, the Stormers won a penalty and wisely opted for a five-metre scrum, which both ran the clock down and gave the home side another penalty, with Libbok converting in the final play.

The Stormers are next in action against defending European champions La Rochelle in the Champions Cup round of 16 tie in Cape Town.

Photo: @THESTORMERS/Twitter/X

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