Clermont maul Aironi

Clermont Auvergne 54 Aironi 3

Clermont Auvergne picked up their first win of this season’s Heineken Cup in some style as they put Aironi to the sword in a one-sided clash at Stade Marcel Michelin tonight.

The star-studded French side had lost their opening Pool 4 clash to Ulster but they bounced back with an eight-try mauling of Aironi, with Lee Byrne, Gerhard Vosloo and Brock James going over in the first half and Julien Bonnaire, Julien Bardy, Jean-Marcel Buttin, Wesley Fofana, and Julien Malzieu adding second-half scores.

Scrum-half Morgan Parra converted four of those tries, while fly-half James successfully added the points for the three of the others.

Italian side Aironi, who lost their first match to Leicester, managed only an early Luciano Orquera penalty in reply.