JAMES HOOK enjoyed a dream home debut for his new club Perpignan when he scored all of his side’s points with the boot and saved the Catalans blushes against a dogged Exeter Chiefs outfit.

The Wales star, who signed left the Ospreys for Perpignan in the summer, landed five of his six penalties to secure a home victory for last season’s Heineken Cup semi-finalists in their Amlin Challenge Cup opener.

But the home side, in front of a crowd of 11,336 at the Stade Aime Giral, were behind for 50 minutes before they finally took the lead against a stubborn and resilient Chiefs side who left France with a well earned bonus point.

The Chiefs certainly caught their hosts cold early on and took an early 9-3 lead thanks to the home side’s indiscipline and the boot of the visitors impressive fly-half Gareth Steenson.

Both front rows enjoyed a rare old battle in the raw atmosphere in Catalonia, with neither prepared to take a step back in an often brutal contest, but the visitors still managed to go in 12-9 at the break.

Hook pulled the home side level just after half-time before Exeter found themselves down to 14-men after flanker James Scaysbrook was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Perpignan’s Samoan No 8 Henry Tuilagi,

The Welshman slotted over his fifth penalty to give Perpignan a 15-12 lead after fellow Welsh international and former Ospreys teammate, Craig Mitchell, was penalised for collapsing a scrum.

The Chiefs did launch a terrific fightback towards the end of the second half and only some last ditch defence by Perpignan kept the visitors at bay to earn a valuable bonus point away from home.