The Italians were edged out late on by the French giants in Round 2 after a heroic display on home soil in which they played for nearly an hour with 14 men after Giacomo Bernini’s red card.

But they carried on where they left off in terms of performance levels as they had a try-scoring bonus point sewn up before half-time against the Portuguese newcomers at the Stadio Enrico Chersoni.

The hosts scored six tries in total, with five coming through their impressive backline as they showed plenty of adventure in recording their first win of the continental campaign. Centre Denis Majstorovic, wing Niccolo Tempestini and fly-half Filippo Vezzosi all crossed to follow an early penalty try in the first period and centre Clemens von Grumbkow and wing Abou Souare touched down after the interval.

Lusitanos gave a good account of themselves, though, after heavy defeats to Stade and London Irish, and they actually led 10-7 after 19 minutes thanks to Salvador Cunha’s converted try and a Guilherme Covas penalty.

But Prato regained the lead just a minute later and would go on to enjoy a 16-point advantage at the break at 26-10. There was no way back for the visitors when von Grumbkow went over just seven minutes after the break, with Souare then making it six tries to one with 15 minutes remaining. A fifth conversion from Tony Browne took the score out to 40-10 and Prat were cruising.

Lusitanos refused to lie down and accept their fate, though, and they claimed the game’s final two scores through openside flanker Vasco Fragoso Mendes after 69 and 78 minutes.