Following Ulster’s 38-34 win over the Stormers in the United Rugby Championship (URC), here’s our five key takeaways from the Round 13 clash at Kingspan Stadium.

The top line

This game felt pivotal for both sides in the context of the race for the eight, so a quick start was essential.

And the Stormers did exactly that, as they raced into a 17-0 lead after just eight minutes thanks to two tries and a drop goal.

But, the one-way traffic quickly ended as the hosts clawed their way back to pull level going into the shed and gained numerical advantage through a costly sin-binning.

The second-half was like something out of a video game, too, with five tries scored – three for Ulster and two for the Stormers, a red card and a yellow card and some chaotic rugby played by both sides, but after all that, Ulster held on and secured a famous win.

That bonus-point victory now propels the hosts right up the table and puts them firmly in the play-off spots, while the pressure piles on John Dobson once again and the Stormers are left pondering what could have been. The bonus-points do still help them move up into seventh though, but it could have been an entirely different story if they had kept their cool.

Mindless acts

For all of their quality, three mindless acts from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse and Neethling Fouche cost their side tonight. Feinberg-Mngomezulu copped a cheap yellow card for an off-the-ball clash with Rob Baloucoune while Willemse made a no-arm clear-out just as his side won a pivotal turnover.

While the acts themselves probably received adequate punishments, it was their effect on the game that was crucial. Both events were instantly punished with Ulster tries, just at a time when the hosts needed gifts like it. After the fly-half was sent to the bin, Jack Murphy burrowed his way over to pull his side level, just at a point where they were starting to build momentum after falling 17-0 down early on. Then, Willemse’s penalty, which actually brought the play back from the halfway line to the Stormers’ five-metre, was again punished with an instant try for Jacob Stockdale.

The red card to Fouche again gifted the hosts a numerical advantage for the final 35 minutes as well, and that eventually took its toll with the extra space in the build-up to Zac Ward’s and Stuart Moore’s scores.

Ulster weren’t innocent either, with Harry Sheridan also seeing yellow for an utterly needless act of playing the ball while on the floor of a ruck, which again was punished with a score.

Huge step forward for Ulster

It’s been a pretty bleak season for Ulster thus far, but tonight was a real sign that brighter days lie ahead. This felt like a statement win for Richie Murphy’s side.

In days gone by, they would have completely capitulated after going 17-0 down after just eight minutes, but they managed to fight their way back into it with some seriously delicious attack.

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The likes of Mike Lowry – who should be banging on the door of Paul O’Connell for this summer’s Ireland squad – Jacob Stockdale, John Cooney, Stuart McCloskey and Baloucoune managed to make consistent inroads through the Stormers’ defence and got their side back into the game as a result. Around this too, the impact of bench players Nathan Doak, Moore and Ward also upped the ante just when the Stormers went down a man and helped their side pull away.

This is also their third win on the spin too, which has skyrocketed them up the table into fifth place. Slowly but surely, they’ve built up some serious momentum and look in a great position to attack the final few rounds of the season.

We need to talk about Sacha

Despite his cheap yellow card, Springbok fly-half Feinberg-Mngomezulu was mesmeric at times against Ulster, as he dropped an absolute clinic.

He just seemed to effortlessly guide his side around the park, be it with some delicious kicking or just distribution; everything he did worked wonders for his side. Everything just seemed effortless from him. It didn’t look like he’d got out of third gear for much of it, but yet had a huge effect on the game whenever he touched the ball.

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Crucially, too, he just showed serious maturity as well – again despite the yellow. His two drop-goals were the perfect example of that as well, as they came just as the Stormers’ attacks began to stutter. Around that, he also managed to inject himself into the game at just the right moment to make a difference, like for his assist to Willie Engelbrecht in the second-half.

His yellow card will surely be one of the main talking points from the game, but overall, he was in great touch tonight and deserves some flowers.

Scrum scrum baby

To say the Stormers scrum was on top would be an understatement; they were simply brutal all night.

Despite having Irish internationals Rob Herring and Tom O’Toole in their starting front-row, Ulster have really struggled in this department all season and tonight was no exception as the Stormers tore them apart.

The visitors just steamrolled through their Ulster counterparts in the scrum, winning three penalties in the first-half and could easily have had more too. They carried it on in the second 40 too, with two more penalties awarded for good measure.

What’s even more worrying for the rest of the league is that they did all that damage without Springbok stalwart Frans Malherbe. Scarily good scrummaging from the Stormers.

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/ulster-v-stormers-five-takeaways-as-mindless-acts-cost-visitors-despite-mesmeric-sacha-feinberg-mngomezulu-performance