Ulster recorded their first win on South African soil in the URC, a bonus point 39-30 win enough to see them come out on top.

At times they made it tough for themselves, having to come from behind in the opening half and then enduring a nail biting finish to proceedings.

Victory will give them confidence ahead of the tier with the Sharks next weekend, while the Lions will question elements of their game plan after the tie.

The Ulstermen started the better as Robert Baloucoune crossed after two minutes for the opening try, the winger almost walking past the Lions defence to get over, John Cooney added the extras for a 7-0 lead.

Gianni Lombard got the hosts on the board with a penalty after seven minutes but Cooney would restore the seven point gap two minutes later with a penalty of his own.

Francke Horn, the big number 8, turned briefly into a winger for the South African’s never breaking stride from a 60 metre dash down the field to cross over, Lombard levelled after a brilliant conversion.

The hosts took control after the midway point in the opening half, Lombard not missing from the tee his penalty gave the hosts their first lead of the tie, before Emmanuel Tshituka made it 18-10 after he barreled over just after the half hour mark.

Ulster would benefit from a major turning point late in the half, Henco van Wyk sin-binned after a deliberate knock on, Ulster kicked for touch, their maul working well to force an overload to the left channel, where Billy Burns broke free to make it 18-15 at the interval.

The man advantage worked well for Ulster after the restart, again they would cross just before the second minute as Rob Lyttle got his first try of the season, Stuart McCloskey would add the bonus points with a strange score from a lineout, the Lions just unable to clear the lines, Cooney with two perfect conversions to leave it 29-18 after 47 minutes.

Rob Herring was in great form last season when it came to his try-scoring abilities, he crossed for the fifth Ulster try after 53 minutes, Nathan Doak back from the Emerging Ireland tour showed his skill to make a sensational conversion for a 36-18 lead.

Again Ulster proved to be sloppy in defence toward the end of the second half, Andries Coetzee and Quan Horn, both crossed after the hour mark to reduce the deficit to six, after substitute Jordan Hendrikse landed his second conversion attempt of the day.

Doak left some breathing room between the teams after 74 minutes, his brief cameo effective his kicking and game management was excellent, however, this tie would have one final twist, Horn touching down in the corner for his second try of the afternoon, Hendrikse made the kick from the sideline look easy, just two minutes remained as Ulster led by two.

They did enough to seal the win after the Lions forced a turnover with a knock on as the air siren signalled that the tie was over as the ball was quickly kicked into touch.