The TOP14 heavyweights moved eight points clear at the top of Pool 5 after A first-half double from Nick Abendanon and Isaiah Toeava’s first-minute score had Clermont cruising to victory.

Camille Lopez scored the bonus-point try after half-time to move Clermont six points clear at the top of Champions Cup pool five, before Ulster almost produced a stunning comeback. Tommy Bowe crossed twice to add to Franco van der Merwe’s drive over score, but a late penalty try ended hopes of a losing bonus-point.

Clermont scored in the second minute at the Kingspan Stadium last weekend, but they went one better in-front of their home fans with a try in the opening 60 seconds. All Black Toeava glided onto a pass from Wesley Fofana and cut through in midfield before side-stepping past the final defender to score.

Parra converted for an early 7-0 lead, before it got even worse for the Ulstermen. Charles Piutau collected a high Camille Lopez kick, but when he attempted to offload, Remi Lamerat was there to steal possession away.

Clermont went through the phases before spinning the ball left to Lamerat and the centre found Abendanon, who raced over at the corner. It was not long before the hosts continued their ferocious start with a third unanswered score.

This time the French pack turned on the power to shunt Ulster back before releasing Lopez. The outside-half found Abendanon in space with a perfectly weighted kick, and all the full-back had to do was touch down. Parra converted again to make it 21-0 before the half-hour mark, and they held onto their lead until half-time.

Clermont began the second-half exactly how they began the first – with a try. Lopez went from provider to scorer as he intercepted a pass from Ruan Pienaar and sprinted 70 metres to score the bonus-point try, before Parra converted again to send Clermont into a 28-0 lead.

Ulster kicked off their comeback when Pienaar looped a pass over the defence and into the arms of Bowe, and the Ireland wing ran over unopposed. The second-half revival continued after 61 minutes when Van der Merwe was shunted over the line from a close-range lineout.

Jackson converted to narrow the gap to 14 points, before Bowe crashed over from close range after Stuart McCloskey’s break. Lopez landed a penalty, before a penalty try wrapped up the result after Paddy Jackson was shown yellow for stopping a try-scoring pass from finding it’s target.