The weekend's major shock was Munster losing 17-22 against Racing Metro 92 followed by their provincial rivals Leinster somewhat fortunately overcoming debut boys Exeter Chiefs 9-6. The most one-sided performance so far saw a Charlie Hodgson-inspired Saracens invade Murrayfield at take a 45-0 win away from last year's semi-finalists, who had former Sharks in their ranks: Cox, Titterrell and Leck.
Friday's openers went with form, but needed last gasp tries to secure bonus points for the visitors. Ospreys beating Treviso 38-17 at the Liberty Stadium, Ashley Beck scoring five seconds from time, whilst Ulster grabbed a fifth point thanks to a Ruan Pienaar try at Ravenhill, easing away to take the spoils against Castres 41-17.
Charlie Hodgson garnered a 25-point haul for Saracens against Edinburgh, including a trademark 'chargedown' try to accompany his four conversions and four penalties.
A late Olly Barkley penalty helped give Racing Metro an unlikely 22-17 Heineken Cup victory over Munster at a wet and soggy Stade de France.
Simon Zebo looked like he had earned the visitors the points with a brilliant 73rd-minute solo try, but when Conor Murray was penalised for holding on inside his 22 with three minutes left, Barkley held his nerve to slot over.
Defending champions Leinster were left clinging on for a nervy 9-6 win over competition debutants Exeter Chiefs at the RDS.
Argentina international Ignacio Mieres missed an injury-time penalty to earn a draw for Exeter as Jonathan Sexton's nine-point haul proved to be just enough for the 2009, 2011 and 2012 winners.
The competition's other newcomers, Zebre, opened up with a 10-19 loss to Connacht whilst Clermont Auvergne were in dynamic form against the Scarlets, running up a 49-16 scoreline.
The opening salvoes of the Heineken Cup were concluded for Saturday when Harlequins played host to Biarritz and recorded an impressive 40-13 win against Magnus Lund's side. Ben Botica replaced Nick Evans and slotted over 7 out of 8 kick attempts.
Aviva Premiership leaders Northampton Saints started their Heineken Cup campaign with a stirring fightback against Glasgow Warriors at Franklin's Gardens.
Glasgow, still to earn an away victory against an English side, led 15-0 after Josh Strauss and Sean Lamont scored tries in a dominant opening half hour.
Saints hit back before half-time through George Pisi's brace of tries. Stephen Myler and Vasily Artemyev clinched a bonus-point win with further home tries after the break. Final score 24-15.
Leicester Tigers were outgunned 23-9by four-time Heineken Cup winners Toulouse in their opening Pool 2 encounter.
The Tigers were only 11-9 behind at the break after a late first-half try by 18-year-old centre Gael Fickou. Leicester's scrum began to creak after the break and Toulouse fly-half Luke McAlister, once a Sale Sharks, was unerring with the boot, finishing with 18 points.
The final game of the weekend saw the other teams in Sale Sharks' pool, Toulon and Montpellier, in opposition.Home advantage counted, with Toulon running in five tries in a 37-16 win on a very wet night at the Mediterranean port.
