French club Clermont scored a vital 37-27 win over defending European Cup champions London Wasps on Saturday, but Leicester rescued some English pride with a 14-9 win over Toulouse.
Clermont, fired by 22 points from the metromonic boot of Australian outside-half Brock James, scored a last-minute try through captain Aurelien Rougerie to deny Wasps a losing bonus point, which could prove crucial in the tournament's so-called "group of death" that also includes Munster and Llanelli.
The French team scored two other tries through Julien Malzieu and Argentinian hooker Mario Ledesma, while Wasps' man-of-the-match James Haskell notched up a brace with prop Tim Payne also getting on the scoresheet.
Feted playmaker Dan Cipriani also kicked 12 points, but Clermont built on their 20-10 half-time lead and Rougerie's late try was the icing on the cake in a hard-fought Pool 5 game.
"We had nothing to lose and everything to gain in this first game against them," Rougerie said. "It was a great test but we knew that we were capable of doing it."
Ireland outside-half Ronan O'Gara booted 19 points and controlled the other Pool 5 match against Llanelli Scarlets played in awful weather at Stradey Park the result of which saw the Irish province go top of the group.
Scarlets scored a try first through Kiwi center Regan King, but David Wallace and Marcus Horan notched up a try each to seal Munster's 29-16 win.
At Welford Road, Leicester ran out 14-9 winners over Toulouse in a tight Pool 6 encounter.
After an early Valentin Courrent penalty for the visitors, Ollie Smith seized on a dreadful attempt by Yannick Jauzion and Clement Poitrenaud to run the ball out of defense in greasy conditions.
Leicester center Danny Hipkiss tackled an isolated Poitrenaud and the fullback popped the ball up nicely for Smith, who sprinted in for a try to dampen Toulouse's early daring play.
Andy Goode kicked a 30th minute penalty after some sustained Leicester pressure, but Courrent had the last word of the first-half with a snatched drop-goal.
Courrent and Goode traded penalties early in the second-half, before the Leicester man hit the decisive three-pointer in an increasingly forward-dominated game.
With three minutes of regulation time to play, Vincent Clerc scorched through on a loose grubber and touched down under the posts but Welsh referee Nigel Owens righlty called him back for a forward pass in the build-up.
The home pack, led superbly by No. 8 Jordan Crane and Martin Corry, then held out for the win over the former three-time European champions, who claimed a defensive bonus point.
In a Pool 1 game, Newport struggled against a combative Treviso before coming out 35-33 winners. The Welsh region had Ceri Sweeney to thank after the outside-half nailed a late drop-goal to secure the bonus-point victory.
Saracens notched up a 71-7 home win over hapless Viadana, Glen Jackson leading the way with a personal tally of 26 points.
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