The French side played with intent, dominating possession and territory. Still, many would argue the Stormers were hard done by, with referee Christophe Ridley’s decisions raising more than a few eyebrows.

Toulon scored their first try in the first ten minutes of the game when Ben White scored under the posts. Ten minutes later, flyhalf Jurie Matthee put the Stormers on the scoreboard with a penalty kick, followed shortly after by a try from lock Adré Smith. 

Tries

Toulon answered at the half-hour mark when Gaël Dréan scored. With all tries converted and another penalty kick in the bag for the Stormers, the visitors led by 14-10 at halftime.  

The Stormers were first to score in the second half when Evan Roos crashed over with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converting. But the hosts hit back when Antoine Frisch scored a converted try just five minutes later to make it 21-20.  

Toulon pulled ahead when wing Setariki Tuicuvu scored in the final quarter, but eight minutes from time the Stormers appeared to score when Ntuthuko Mchunu went over the line. However, it appeared the prop lost the ball, and the score remained 29-20.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Photo:  X/SABC Sport

The Stormers attacked again, but the attacking maul collapsed, resulting in a yellow card for Matthias Halagahu, but no penalty try, which left many pundits scratching their heads.  Still, the Stormers came for the line, but another effort was deemed held up. The visitors finally scored in the 78th minute, reducing the deficit to 28-27.

The Stormers must have thought they had it in the bag when they were awarded a penalty in the dying minutes. They went for a line-out and drove over the line, but the TMO could find no evidence of the ball being grounded.

Toulon will now face the Glasgow Warriors in the quarter-final.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger dg