Welsh side Ospreys beat two-time champions Munster for the first time in the European Cup on Saturday.

The 19-15 victory turns their Pool 3 into a three-horse race for the top spot which is the only one guaranteeing a certain place in the last eight.

French side Toulon lead the pool after they ran away with a 38-17 thrashing of struggling English side London Irish, who had come back from 17-0 down to 17-17 after being reduced to 14 men but still slumped to their seventh successive defeat in all competitions.

The Ospreys and Munster fought another titanic tussle in Wales with the hosts prevailing thanks largely to some superb defence.

The Irish side had taken the lead in the 23rd minute as prop Tony Buckley burrowed over aided by flanker David Wallace with Ronan O'Gara converting but the Ospreys hit back immediately.

A fine backs move ended with Welsh international scrum-half Mike Phillips using his huge frame to force his way over, with Dan Biggar converting before two penalties to O'Gara's one helped the hosts take a 13-10 lead in at the break.

Biggar added another after the break against the run of play after Munster had laid siege to the Ospreys line without being able to get over it - but the Irish side stormed back to score a second try from Keith Earls.

The Ospreys, though, held firm in defence, and captain Alun-Wyn Jones said that the backs to the wall defence in the opening period of the second-half had been a turning point.

"It was a mirror image of the first-half. We weathered the storm and were onto a good thing after that," he said.

Jones, though, accepted that the Ospreys still had a huge task to reach the last eight, which they have qualified for the past three years.

"We're not over the top yet and we have a bit to do," he said.

Toulon looked to be cruising at 17-0 and with the English visitors reduced to 14 men early in the second-half when Sailosi Tagicakibau was sent off.

However, the red card sparked London Irish into life and they scored two tries in quick order from Chris Malone and Alex Corbisiero.

Toulon, though, regrouped and were never again in danger once Argentinian veteran Felipe Contepomi had waltzed over - part of his total of 18 points from the match - and romped away to win easily and get a bonus point to boot.

Leinster moved five points clear at the top of Pool B after a 24-8 win over French club Clermont Auvergne in Dublin.

The Irish province had been looking for revenge after last weekend's defeat in France and were helped by the return of Brian O'Driscoll and Jamie Heaslip from injury.

Cian Healy touched down the opening try after eight minutes as the hosts opened up a 10-3 halftime lead on front of a record 41,000 spectators for a club match at a freezing Lansdowne Road.

Further tries from Healy and Sean O'Brien were converted by Jonathan Sexton before Napolioni Nalaga broke through for Clermont with a try on 69 minutes.

Leinster missed out on the bonus but are strongly placed to advance with a five-point lead on French clubs Racing Metro an Clermont with two games to go.

Earlier, former European champions Ulster gave themselves a great chance of reaching the knockout stages for the first time since the year they won the trophy in 1999 when they completed the double over Bath with a 26-22 triumph.

Their victory - only their second away win in their previous 14 European Cup trips - kept the pressure on Pool 4 leaders Biarritz, who have to travel to the Irish province in January with a three point advantage.

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