Ulster’s first win in South Africa was “something special” that the province will “definitely remember for a long time”, says Mike Lowry.

After losing all three games in South Africa last season, Lowry says Saturday’s bonus-point win is proof of Ulster’s progress.

“It shows how far we’ve come,” said full-back Lowry.

“We’ve grown a lot over the last season and learned from past experiences to come out here and get a great win against a great side in the Lions.

“It’s an absolute privilege to play at Ellis Park as well, there’s lots of history and it’s something special that we’ll definitely remember for a long time.”

The win was Ulster’s fourth in five games this season and moves Dan McFarland’s side up to second in the URC table behind Leinster.

Robert Balacoune went over for Ulster after just two minutes before Lions tries from Francke Horn and Emmanuel Tshituka swung momentum in the hosts’ favour.

A Billy Burns try left Ulster trailing 18-15 at the break but they surged clear as Rob Lyttle, Stuart McCloskey and Rob Herring touched down.

The hosts hit back with tries from Andries Coetzee, Quan Horn and Francke Horn tries, but their fightback fell short as Ulster opened the first leg of their South Africa double-bill in triumphant fashion.

“It’s certainly one of the toughest games I’ve played,” added player of the match Lowry.

“It was incredibly physical. We’ve a lot to improve on but we can be really happy with how we came out in the second half, that 15 minutes after half-time, I was incredibly proud with how we dealt with the Lions’ pressure.

“We turned pressure into points which was really pleasing. We’re a bit disappointed with the end, I don’t know if that’s the altitude kicking in, but we said at the start of the week that we wouldn’t have any excuses about altitude or heat.

“We say it all the time that we’re a team that fights for every inch and we had to dig in because the Lions were going to come out firing.”

Ulster will look to make it a South African double next week when they travel to Durban to face a Sharks side who beat Glasgow in dominant fashion on Saturday.

“Every week’s a new and different challenge,” admitted Lowry.

“The weather might be a bit different in Durban, it might be more humid with more rain compared to this week, but thankfully we’ll be down at sea level.

“Sharks have incredibly gifted players. They have a lot of Springbok internationals so we’ll have to prepare like we have done over here already but also like we’re at home because it’s going to be another physical test.”