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South African Rugby World Cup Winner Cheslin kolbe said he was stunned by his own ability after scoring two more times Toulouse started his European Champions Cup campaign with a 29-22 victory in Ulster on Friday.
Kolbe crossed excellently on both sides of the break, having brought his tally to 10 attempts in as many games since the sport’s restart in September.
For Ulster, it was a first loss at their Kingspan Stadium since October 2018.
“There are not many teams that come here and get a win. I think we can have a lot of confidence in this and keep building,” Kolbe told BT Sport.
“To be honest, I surprise myself and I think it’s my body that takes over.
“It’s not about me, it’s about the team and the forwards laying the groundwork for the baseline players to give us opportunities to finish them off.”
Hosts coach Dan McFarland made five changes from his Edinburgh Pro14 hammering two weeks ago when hooker Rob Herring and Jacob Stockdale, three-quarters, returned from Ireland.
Australia blocks Rory Arnold and New Zealand Rugby World Cup winner Charlie Faumuina returned to Ugo Mola’s starting lineup after last Saturday’s league win in Bayonne.
McFarland’s men led 12-0 after 16 minutes when Herring and midfielder Ian Madigan crossed in greasy conditions.
Mola’s team responded immediately as Kolbe attacked and chased to finish from 50 meters in a sublime individual effort by beating three defenders.
The joint four-time record winners led 14-12 at halftime when Antoine Dupont came out of the middle and sold opposition winger Michael Lowry a dummy to slide.
The home team dominated after the break when scrum-half John Cooney kicked a penalty kick and Herring added a second to either side of Arnold’s first 2.13-meter try of the season for a 22-21 lead with a quarter of an hour to play.
Kolbe’s second brilliant moment came when the former Stormers winger received the ball on the left touchline.
He dodged Stockdale within inches of the lime and then found his way to try despite falling on all fours.
Thomas Ramos made up for the failed conversion with a 50-meter penalty goal to seal the victory and repeat the result of last season’s quarter-finals.
Earlier, Argentine winger Santiago Cordero dived with seven minutes to go in Bordeaux-Begles’ 16-12 win at Northampton Saints.
Saints coach Chris Boyd said after the loss that he will focus on the league and is likely to choose a very different team for next Saturday’s trip to Leinster.
“We will worry about the Premiership for now,” he told BT Sport.
“We will probably change tactics and give some young people a race and give others a break.”
On Saturday, the four-time winner Leinster will head to Montpellier as Toulon host Sale Sharks, who will be without head coach Steve Diamond after his resignation for the week.
On Sunday, the champions Exeter Chiefs host the Glasgow Warriors with 16 players remaining from October’s final win over Racing 92, which in turn host Connacht.
