Stade Francais and Toulouse added to the impression that French sides do not travel well as they both went down to defeats in the latest set of European Cup matches on Saturday.
Stade Francais - who have yet to reward owner Max Guazzini's multi-million euros investment with the trophy - went down 23-13 to 1999 winners Ulster, which saw them climb alongside Stade in the Pool Four standings ahead of the return fixture next weekend in Brussels.
Toulouse went down to a 15-9 reverse at the hands of Cardiff Blues, Ben Blair scoring all the Welsh side's points in what was a highly impressive performance.
Cardiff will travel to Toulouse next weekend trailing by just a point, the French side having at least taken a defensive bonus point.
It added up to a highly disappointing 24 hours for French sides as French champions Perpignan had gone down 24-23 to two-time European champions Munster despite scoring three tries on Friday.
Ulster meeting Stade Francais for the 10th time in the competition gained an extra boost with their victory as Stade failed to take a defensive bonus point.
Ulster fly-half Ian Humphreys - brother of former Ulster legend David - was in great form scoring 13 points and directing all of Ulster's play setting up hooker Nigel Brady for their first try while Scotland winger Simon Danielli added a second in the second-half.
Jimmy Arias' late touchdown for the French side was too little too late, though, Noel Oelschigg missed the chance to grab a bonus point for Stade as he failed with a late penalty.
Stade hooker Benjamin Kayser held his hands up and conceded that they had not deserved anything from the match.
"We did not deserve to win," said the former Leicester star.
"We just kept on making mistakes and were not up to the physical challenge.
"It is a huge huge disappointment because it was a hugely important match, indeed a key clash.
"We have ruined all the good work that we achieved with the victory over Bath (29-27 in their last match).
"Nothing is decided yet, but it is a huge disappointment."
Cardiff suffered an early blow when Tom Shanklin, who had only just returned from a period out to be reunited with Welsh international team-mate Jamie Roberts, went off injured in the 27th minute with Cardiff leading 3-0.
However, despite intensive Toulouse pressure it was Cardiff who racked up a further three points in the 34th minute as Ben Blair slotted over a penalty.
Blair was in fine form and four minutes into the second-half he added a third penalty after another Toulouse infringement.
Toulouse finally got on the scoreboard in the 54th minute as Florian Fritz converted a penalty just after Guy Noves had sent on David Skrela to play at fly-half and moved the mercurial Frederic Michalak to scrum-half.
Blair maintained his 100percent record as he added a fourth penalty in the 64th minute only for Toulouse to keep in touch with a six point deficit as Michalak slotted a second penalty.
The French side showed their resilience by moving to within three points of the hosts with eight minutes remaining as Skrela put over a splendid drop goal and ensured a nervewracking climax.
However, after Fritz and Cedric Heymans missed a penalty and a drop goal respectively Leigh Halfpenny showed no nerves as he added a fifth penalty with under a minute remaining to secure a famous victory for the Blues.
Man of the match Gethin Jenkins was proud of all the squad.
"This is a victory that shows we have got back on track," said Jenkins.
"It was a massive performance from number 1 to 22 today.
"We have to back up next week as Toulouse are good on their patch. We have to recover over the next few days and be up for the match."
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
