Coach John Dobson said it had required an extraordinary effort from his team after a late burst of tries enabled the Stormers to kick off their United Rugby Championship campaign with an emphatic 29-15 bonus point over Connacht in Galway on Friday.
With No 8 Evan Roos and loose forward replacement Marcel Theunissen ruled out with soft tissue injuries while training on the 4G pitch ahead of the clash, the Stormers were up against it.
Dobson said his team could have sealed the game before halftime if they had taken full advantage of scoring opportunities that came their way.
“I am very proud of the performance,” he said.
“I think we probably made it a bit more difficult than it needed to be.
“I think if we had converted our chances when we were 10-0 ahead a few minutes before halftime rather than conceding those two tries, we could have sealed it and turned with the wind.
“But I think given the disruptions of this week, it was an extraordinary performance. I think process-wise, we deserved to win it.
“Our plan was good; there were some mistakes.
“Something around the attack in the second half, where we were playing off nine a lot and maybe we didn’t stretch them enough defensively, and maybe the first half was too much.
“But you can argue we deserved to be the dominant team.
“The nice romantic story is Vernon Paulo and Ezekiel Ngobeni were making their debuts and scoring tries.
“I think to get five points in a place like this was a great start,
“Connacht will tip a lot of teams on this ground. It’s a tough place to play, so to get that win was very satisfying.”
Paolo and Ngobeni scored in the last five minutes to allow the Stormers to finish strongly and bag a full haul of five points.
The visitors put the pressure on from the kick-off, and it paid off as captain Ruhan Nel grabbed an intercept and was eventually hauled down just short of the tryline.
Jurie Matthee knocked over a penalty to give them an early lead, and they followed up with a try to go into double figures.
The forwards had earned the advantage, and scrumhalf Andre Warner put it onto his toe, with Warrick Gelant collecting the grubber to score.
The home side managed to hold out and responded with two tries just before halftime to take a 12-10 lead into the break.
The Stormers started the second half in the ascendancy and looked certain to score, but Seabelo Senatla was held up in the corner.
Instead, it would be the hosts to score next, as they kicked a penalty after Matthee had missed an attempt of his own.
However, the Stormers made several changes up front, and it paid off as a storming maul put them in position before replacement prop Sazi Sandi powered his way over to put them back in front at 17-15 with 20 minutes left.
They kept hammering away at the Connacht defence, and it paid off late as Paolo and Ngobeni both crossed the whitewash to seal the bonus-point win.
Scorers:
Stormers 29: Tries: Warrick Gelant, Sazi Sandi, Vernon Paulo and Ezekiel Ngobeni. Conversions: Jurie Matthee (2), Yaqeen Ahmed. Penalty: Ahmed
Connacht 15: Tries: Mack Hansen and Josh Ioane. Conversion: Sam Gilbert. Penalty: Sam Gilbert
Other URC scores: Lions 27 Leinster 26, Sharks 41 Ospreys 24, Zebre 13 Bulls 47
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