Ian McGeechan was left to rue a series of mistakes as Wasps stumbled to a Heineken Cup loss in France.

The 2004 European champions had the majority of possession and territory, but couldn’t finish off several promising moves and finished the game without a try to their name.

Lions legend McGeechan said: “We made a lot of errors, which is very frustrating for us. We controlled 65 to 70 percent of the game and the way it was played, but we just kept making mistakes. It meant they didn’t have to work too hard to get the ball.

“We’re certainly still in it, though. Coming out of the pool is still doable, but we were hoping the first try after only two minutes wouldn’t come back to haunt us, and it did. It was poor defending from the kick-off, and that was what made the difference in the end.”

“We had a lot of chances in the last 10 minutes, but we just weren’t able to put it away. All we needed was that one try to get back into the driving seat.

“I think we were a bit conservative early on in the game and we’d actually talked about being the opposite in the run-up to the match.

“It became clear that we weren’t going to win the game, but coming away with the bonus point was very important.”

Wasps’ defensive line remained intact for barely 90 seconds, with impressive backrower Ovidiu Tonita’s try bringing the crowd to their feet before many of them had found their seat.

Jeremy Staunton steading the visiting ship with an early penalty goal, but he was edged by opposite number Steve Meyer in the goal-kicking stakes, with the South African kicked four goals to the Irishman’s three as Perpignan took a 16-9 lead into the break.

The second half was blighted by poor handling and over-adventurous passing, although both sides’ defensive coaches will be patting themselves on the back as the scoreline remained the same for 72 minutes.

The deadlock was broken by the boot of Nicolas Laharrague, who kicked a penalty goal after Staunton was yellow-carded for a professional foul at the breakdown.

Perpignan don’t often let a 10-point lead slip at their Stade Aime Giral cauldron, but despite keeping the English heavyweights try-less, they may rue giving replacement Alex King the chance to earn a bonus point with a late penalty goal.