Toulon see off spirited Scarlets
Reigning two-time champions Toulon began the defence of their European Cup crown with a rugged 28-18 victory over a spirited Scarlets on Sunday.
Australian playmaker Matt Giteau, centre Maxime Mermoz and English No.8 Steffon Armitage crossed the whitewash as Toulon finally pulled away in the second half.
The result was enough to put the French champions top of Pool Three ahead of their trip to Northern Ireland next weekend to face Ulster, who lost 25-18 at Leicester on Saturday.
But they were frustrated at failing to score a fourth try and secure a bonus point.
"We created opportunities and we were going for that bonus point at the end but we couldn't quite cross the line," fullback Leigh Halfpenny said.
"We created opportunities but couldn't quite finish them, which was frustrating, but having said that we'll take the win."
After Halfpenny and Scarlets flyhalf Rhys Priestland exchanged penalties, the hosts scored the opening try following clever midfield interplay between Giteau, who touched down, and Mermoz.
Halfpenny, though, failed to convert as the ball fell off the tee and he ran out of time to take his kick.
Scarlets were proving durable opponents, though, and they went ahead after a converted try of their own.
Liam Williams broke through weak tackles from Mermoz and Halfpennny and although he was held up short of the line, flanker John Barclay was on hand to take a pass from the back of the ruck and charge over, although he comically dived on the ball and managed to wind himself.
Just two minutes later Mermoz charged down Scott Williams's clearing kick in the Welsh side's 22 and showed nifty footballing skills to dribble the ball over the line and touch down – Halfpenny converting this time.
An exchange of penalties between Welsh international teammates Halfpenny and Priestland at the end of the half left the scores at 18-13.
Toulon failed to take advantage of Emyr Phillips's sin-binning early in the second half but as soon as he returned to the fray, Halfpenny kicked a penalty from halfway to extend the champions' lead.
Scarlets' resistance was finally broken 10 minutes from time as Armitage burrowed over after a period of pressure on the Welsh line.
However, they kept plugging away and had the final say as Kristian Phillips went over in the final minute after a sweeping backs move started from their own half.
Earlier, record four-time champions Toulouse beat fellow French Top 14 outfit Montpellier 30-23.
In a see-saw battle, a brilliant individual try from Toulouse scrumhalf Jean-Marc Doussain, who broke down the left wing before chipping ahead and winning the foot-race to touch down, proved the difference.
"It was very important for us to win this match, we know that Montpellier are able to win at any ground in France and Europe," said Toulouse forwards coach William Servat.
Montpellier will perhaps be ruing a missed opportunity having taken the lead towards the end of the first half following a try from Timoci Nagusa, only to turn around at the break trailing 13-10 after switching off and allowing Yoann Huget to win a race to New Zealander flyhalf Luke McAlister's grubber kick.
"We were twice ahead, we told ourselves 'we're going to do this' but there was a bit too much wastage, dropped balls that went against us," said Montpellier head coach Fabien Galthie.
Doussain's winning try also came when the hosts were down to 14 men following Samoa prop Census Johnston's sin-binning.
Montpellier had actually taken the lead in the second half a minute after their own flyhalf Teddy Iribaren was shown a yellow card, as South African centre Wynand Olivier crossed the whitewash.
Yet before they could get back to a full allocation, Huget scored his second try and put the hosts back in the driving seat, with Doussain's try ensuring they remained there.
Toulouse now trail Glasgow, who thumped Bath 37-10 on Saturday, in Pool Four, with the Scots travelling to Montpellier next weekend and the English side, champions in 1998, entertaining the four-time winners.
In Sunday's other early match, Ospreys ran in five tries to secure a bonus point victory in a 42-7 thumping of Italians Treviso.
All of Sunday's scores and scorers:
Ospreys 42-7 Treviso
The scorers:
For Ospreys:
Tries: Hassler, Webb, Evans 2, Baker
Cons: Biggar 4
Pens: Biggar 3
For Treviso:
Try: Nitoglia
Con: Carlisle
Ospreys: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Jeff Hassler, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Dan Baker, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 James King, 5 Alun-Wyn Jones (captain), 4 Lloyd Peers, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Joe Bearman, 21 Justin Tipuric, 22 Martin Roberts, 23 Sam Davies.
Treviso: 15 Jayden Hayward, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Enrico Bacchin, 11 Ludovico Nitoglia, 10 Joe Carlisle, 9 Alberto Lucchese, 8 Francesco Minto 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Simone Favaro, 5 Tomas Vallejos, 4 Antonio Pavanello (c), 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Albert Alfred Anae, 1 Matteo Zanusso.
Replacements: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Romulo Acosta, 18 Salesi Manu, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Meyer Swanepoel, 21 Marco Barbini, 22 Michele Campagnaro, 23 Edoardo Gori.
Toulouse 30-23 Montpellier
The scorers:
For Toulouse:
Tries: Huget 2, Doussain
Cons: McAlister, Flood 2
Pens: McAlister 2, Flood
For Montpellier:
Tries: Nagusa, Olivier
Cons: Iribarent, Selponi
Pens: Iribarent 2, Paillaugue 2
Toulouse: 15 Maxime Médard, 14 Yoann Huget, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Gaël Fickou, 11 Timoci Matanavou, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Jean-Marc Doussain, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 6 Yacouba Camara, 5 Yoann Maestri, 4 Joe Tekori, 3 Census Johnston, 2 Corey Flynn, 1 Gürthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Kisi Pulu, 18 Cyril Baille, 19 Patricio Albacete, 20 Edwin Maka, 21 Sébastien Bézy, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Vincent Clerc.
Montpellier: 15 Benjamin Fall, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Rene Ranger, 12 Wynand Olivier, 11 Samisoni Viriviri, 10 Enzo Selponi, 9 Teddy Iribarent, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Alexandre Bias, 5 Thibaut Privat, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Mickaël Ivaldi, 1 Mikheil Nariashvili.
Replacements: 16 Charles Géli, 17 Yvan Watremez, 18 Chris King, 19 Robins Tchale-Watchou, 20 Kélian Galletier, 21 Benoit Paillaugue, 22 Anthony Tuitavake, 23 Benoit Sicart.
Toulon 28-18 Scarlets
The scorers:
For Toulon:
Tries: Giteau, Mermoz, Armitage
Cons: Halfpenny 2
Pens: Halfpenny 3
For Scarlets:
Tries: Barclay, K Phillips
Cons: Priestland
Pens: Priestland 2
Toulon: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 David Smith, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 8 Steffon Armitage 7 Juán Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Juan Smith, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Carl Hayman (captain), 2 Jean-Charles Orioli, 1 Xavier Chiocci.
Replacements:16 Guilhem Guirado, 17 Alexandre Menini, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Chris Masoe, 20 James O'Connor, 21 Rudi Wulf, 22 Michael Claassens, 23 Romain Taofifenua.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Michael Tagicakibau, 12 Scott Williams (captain), 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Rory Pitman, 7 John Barclay, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Johan Snyman, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Phil John, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 George Earle, 20 James Davies, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Jordan Williams.
Leinster 25-20 Wasps
The scorers:
For Leinster:
Tries: Fanning 2, Ryan
Cons: Madigan 2
Pens: Madigan 2
For Wasps:
Tries: Leiua, Wade
Cons: Goode 2
Pens: Goode 2
Leinster: 15 Ian Madigan, 14 Zane Kirchner, 13 Gordon D'Arcy, 12 Noel Reid, 11 Darragh Fanning, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Dominic Ryan, 6 Rhys Ruddock, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Michael Bent, 2 Sean Cronin, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Ed Byrne, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Isaac Boss, 22 Mick McGrath, 23 Luke Fitzgerald.
Wasps: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell (captain), 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Chris Bell.
