Ulster made it three United Rugby Championship wins in a row and moved into the top eight by recording a bonus-point victory over the Stormers on a night of celebration at Kingspan Stadium.
There were less than 90 seconds on the clock when the visitors took the lead. from a turnover, the Stormers put Evan Roos through a gap, and the No8 went over unopposed, with out half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu adding the conversion.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu extended the South African's lead with a drop goal.
Stormers winger Ben Loader added his side’s second try at eight minutes as he pounced on a loose ball in midfield and went from the halfway line to touch down with Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting from a difficult angle.
Ulster opened their account at 11 minutes, with Rob Baloucoune marking his return with a try.
It was Ulster’s first sustained period of pressure in the Stormers 22, as the forwards battered away at the line and with a penalty advantage, Jack Murphy flung the ball wide for the Irish winger to dive over in the corner for an unconverted try.
Ulster reduced the Stormers' advantage with a second try after 29 minutes of play in the first half.
The home pack forced a scrum penalty in the shadow of the Stormers posts, Ulster took a quick tap and go and the first surge for the line was repelled, but from another powerful drive, loosehead prop Andy Warwick squeezed over, with Cooney adding the conversion.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu missed the opportunity to extend the Stormers' lead as he dragged a 37th-minute penalty wide with some pressure from the home crowd.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu was then yellowed carded in the final minute of the first half for taking Baloucoune out of the ball, and Ulster made their numerical advantage count immediately.
They kicked the penalty to the corner, the pack set up a driving maul and fly- half Jack Murphy touched down in the corner for an unconverted tie to tie the score at 17-17 going into the interval.
Ulster sealed the bonus point three minutes after the restart with their fourth try.
The Stormers gave away a penalty under their own posts, and Ulster elected for the tap and go. The forwards sucked in the defence to create space and Mike Lowry threw a long pass for Jacob Stockdale to dot down in the corner with Cooney converting from a tight angle.
Stormers captain Neethling Fouche was shown a red card at 44 minutes for a dangerous tackle on Ulster centre Ben Carson, who had to come off for an HIA.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu then returned from the sin bin to land his second drop goal of the evening on 51 minutes.
Jacob Stockdale created Ulster’s fifth try on 55 minutes, the Irish winger surging clear of the defence, after a strong carry from Stuart McCloskey gained Ulster territory in the Stormers half, before popping the ball to replacement wing, Zac Ward, to run in with Jack Murphy converting.
The Stormers then scored a try in reply, with Willie Engelbrecht finding a gap in the Ulster defence to claw back the scoreline to 31-25. The conversion brought it to a four-point game.
Ulster then produced a scintillating move for their sixth try on the 66th minute.
After collecting a high ball in the backfield, Lowry broke out of defence and carried from his own half into the Stormers' 22. He offloaded inside to Nathan Doak, and the replacement scrum-half fed replacement centre, Stewart Moore, to go under the posts after a good supporting line.
Doak added the simple conversion to extend the lead to 38-27.
Ulster replacement lock Harry Sheridan was yellow carded on 72 minutes, and from the resulting penalty, the Stormers opted for a tap-and-go with Roos going over for his second try and Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting.
Despite a nervy end to the match, Ulster stole a loose ball at the Stormers lineout, and Nathan Doak was able to boot the ball out to end the match.
A third victory in a row for Richie Murphy's side, who jump to fifth in the table after the bonus-point victory.
Scorers:
Ulster Rugby: Tries: Rob Baloucoune, Andrew Warwick, Jack Murphy, Jacob Stockdale, Zac Ward, Moore. Conversions: John Cooney, Jack Murphy.
DHL Stormers: Tries: Evan Roos (2), Willie Engelbrecht, Ben Loader. s Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2). Conversions: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (4).
Teams
Ulster Rugby: 15 Michael Lowry, 14 Rob Baloucoune, 13 James Hume, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Murphy, 9 John Cooney, 8 David McCann, 7 Nick Timoney, 6 Matty Rea, 6 Kieran Treadwell, 4 Alan O’Connor (c), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Andrew Warwick. Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Callum Reid, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 James McNabney, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Ben Carson, 23 Zac Ward.
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Connor Evans, 3 Neethling Fouché (c), 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 André-Hugo Venter, 17 Brok Harris, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Paul de Wet, 22 Jurie Matthee, 23 Wandisile Simelane.
