Talk about the narrow margins of professional sports.
The Stormers and the Bulls came close to setting up a Champions Cup quarterfinal against each other, but South Africa’s two teams in the competition crashed out in nail-biting clashes.
The Stormers went down to Toulon 27-28 while the Bulls fell to the Warriors in Glasgow 21-25, having trailed by one point before a last-minute penalty.
Toulon were eight points up with about four minutes remaining on the clock, but a late converted try by Imad Khan turned this topsy-turvey match on its head.
The home side enjoyed an eight-point lead during the closing stages before Khan broke their defence to make it a one-point game with about two minutes on the clock.
More drama followed as the Stormers crossed the line after the hooter, but referee Christophe Ridley controversially judged there was no clear evidence of a grounding in the move.
After consultation with the television match official (TMO), Ridley stayed with his on-field decision, but it could have gone either way because television replays were not fully conclusive.
It proved to be the last action of this exciting last-16 clash that broke the hearts of the Stormers, who played in front of a passionate crowd.
When they pushed for the winner during the dying minutes, Toulon were under immense pressure because they were without Matthias Halagahu and Ma’a Nonu, who had earlier been shown yellow cards.
The home side went into the match low on confidence after a poor run of recent results where they drew with Lyon and lost to Stade Français and Perpignan in the Top 14.
For the Stormers, it was a different story as they were high on confidence after three successive wins over Edinburgh, Dragons and Bulls that moved them to the second spot on the United Rugby Championship (URC) log.
Toulon were the team to settle first as they camped in the 22m area of the Stormers, but they could not find the early breakthrough, with the visitors defending well.
They were finally rewarded for their pressure play as they opened up the Capetonians’ defence when Ben White broke after nine minutes following a series of passes.
The Stormers had their first points after 20 minutes when Jurie Matthee found the middle of the posts from a penalty, and they took the lead a few minutes later.
The Stormers won a high ball and went on to score their first try through Adre Smith, but it was not long before Toulon retook the lead when Gaël Dréan breached their defence.
Stormers closed the gap to one point shortly before the break when Matthee scored his second penalty as they looked to launch a comeback and gain the advantage.
Stormers coach John Dobson called on Marcel Theunissen, JD Schickerling and Ntuthuko Mchunu from the bench, and the substitutions made an immediate impact. With fresh legs and ideas, they surged forward, and their attacking move ended with the imposing Evan Roos powering his way over the line to stay in the game with their third try.
However, the try did not disorganise Toulon as they responded shortly with two tries from the efforts of Mathis Ferte and Setariki Tuicuvu that gave them an eight-point lead.
The first to score was Ferte, who benefited from a penetrating move, and Tuicuvu went through the gap to break the Stormers defensive line.
Stormers’ chances of mounting a comeback were boosted in the closing stages when Halagahu and Nonu were sent to the sin bin, but Toulon held on with 13 men to secure a place in the last eight of the competition.
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