Clermont Auvergne ran in six tries in a 49-33 demolition of Bordeaux Begles in the Champions Cup.
Clermont fans donned the red of Munster in tribute to Anthony Foley before the game, with a moment's applause ringing around the Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin before kick-off. Their fluent, attacking style was no less inspiring.
But they were made work for their victory with Bordeaux's Jean-Marcellin Buttin crossing the whitewash four minutes and Jayden Spence adding a second just after the 22 minute mark. Morgan Parra kept Clermont in the game with two penalties after Buttin's converted try and a third after Ian Madigan converted Spence's try.
But the game changed in Clermont's favour when Jacobus Van Wyk was sin-binned 27 minutes in. Minutes later, a David Strettle kick-through rebounded off Buttin and into the path of Noa Nakaitaci. He hacked on and grounded to give Clermont a 16-14 lead at the break.
Then the floodgates opened, with Clermont's sublime flair in contrast to some wretched defending. Alexandre Lapandry, and Wesley Fofana stretched their lead to 10 points with two tries within seven minutes of the restart. Fofana brilliantly sniped through the Bordeaux defence to add to his two tries against Exeter Chiefs last week.
The sin-binning of Tom Palmer for Bordeaux ended it as a contest as Sebastien Vahaamahina crossed after the hour mark. As Clermont rang the changes, Buttin crossed for his second of the game, but it was quickly cancelled out by a Strettle try 11 minutes from the end.
As defending was cast aside in the closing 10 minutes, Metuisela Talebula and Gauthier Doubrere added consolation tries for Bordeaux, either side of a Sitaleki Timani try for Clermont.
Clermont have added the triumph over Bordeaux to that of Exeter, whom they brushed aside last week. They will hope to continue their form towards claiming Europe's top prize for the very first time, having been runner-up in 2013 and 2015.