John Dobson annoyed after controversial end to Stormers' Champions Cup campaign

The visitors were not overawed by the occasion and were in the fight throughout. But twice they crossed the whitewash and twice they were denied, most notably in the dying embers of the match.

Dobson questioned the final call where Toulon flank Charles Ollivon appeared to be grounded and in an offside position when he stopped Adre Smith from scoring, as well as an earlier decision when a maul was brought down near the tryline only for a penalty, rather than a penalty try, to be awarded.

"There's no doubt that the Stormers travel well, fight well, have a good plan and can compete in the cathedrals of rugby," reflected Dobson.

"[But] we had to adapt to some EPCR interpretations. In the URC [United Rugby Championship] – which is obviously our day job -  when you run into the maul like that, and it gets brought down, it's clearly a penalty try. But not in the EPCR.

"Obviously a bit frustrated at the end there. Once it goes to the TMO, then maybe you can't see the grounding, and the on-field decision for some reason is 'no try'.

"What's frustrating for us is that Ollivon is clearly inside the field of play on the ground. I believe Adre got it down, but I don't understand why it wasn't awarded. A very frustrating way for the game to end."

With a spirited Bulls side also losing narrowly to Glasgow Warriors in their Round of 16 clash and the Sharks crashing out of the Challenge Cup, all focus for the South African team is now on the URC, where there's an outside chance of all four franchises making the quarterfinals.

For the Stormers, they round off the league phase with home fixtures against Connacht and Glasgow Warriors, followed by challenging away trips to Ulster and Cardiff.

"Now we have to focus on the URC," confirmed Dobson.

"We would love to have won this game, but we weren't quite good enough, maybe in a couple of areas. We didn't get the scrum dominance we're used to, and it just seemed to be a bit more of a mess. But it was a great team, great atmosphere, great experience.

"Our players mustn't lose heart. This was a good performance."