Munster No.8 Denis Leamy takes on Perpignan skipper Nicolas Mas © Getty Images

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Picture Gallery: Heineken Cup - Round 4

The battle for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals intensified this weekend in the midst of a cold snap that engulfed much of Europe. The freezing temperatures forced two postponements but failed to quell the desire of the continent's leading sides as they continued to push for this season's knock-out stages.

Defending champions Leinster issued another reminder that they have no intention of relinquishing their crown with a seven-try demolition of Scarlets in Dublin while Biarritz made it four wins from four against the Dragons. Perennial title challengers Toulouse bounced back to winning ways against Cardiff Blues and Edinburgh breathed life into their campaign with a narrow win against Bath in the snow at Murrayfield. The plaudits were reserved for Munster on Sunday, when the two-time champions smashed Perpignan away to kick-start their season.

Check out our Pool by Pool round-up of the latest action:

Pool 1

Munster produced an amazing display to pick up a 37-14 bonus-point victory over Perpignan at their fortress-like home, the Stade Aime Giral.

The French champions had won 16 successive European ties at home, having not been beaten in the south of France since London Wasps tasted success in 2004. But the Irish province took full control with an excellent display and Tony McGahan's men were rewarded with maximum points thanks to tries from Denis Fogarty, Denis Hurley, Jean de Villiers and Doug Howlett.

Ronan O'Gara also chipped in with 15 points from the boot as the hosts were comprehensively out-battled at the breakdown. They scored a try to replacement hooker Guilhem Guirado but his effort was immediately cancelled out by a superb de Villiers effort, which the Irish province will hope has spurred on the misfiring Springbok. The bonus-point arrived with the last kick of the game as Howlett latched onto O'Gara's chip through, deservedly sending Munster back to the top.

Northampton picked up a hard-fought 21-18 victory over Treviso. A late penalty try from Treviso brought the Italians to within a score of their much-fancied opponents who were forced to close shop in the final minutes to hold onto the win. Saints led 7-3 at half-time through Phil Dowson's try and scored twice more through Jon Clarke and Courtney Lawes but they were forced on the back foot by a score from Emiliano Mulieri and the late penalty try, with Neil Best in the sin bin.

Saints were forced to work hard for their bonus point win at Franklin's Gardens last week but any thought of repeating that were put on hold during a highly competitive game that was delayed for more than an hour while snow was shovelled from the pitch.

Pool 2

Gloucester scored a cathartic 19-6 win over Glasgow at Kingsholm after a strong second-half showing yielded tries for wing Charlie Sharples and lock Alex Brown. Fly-half Nick Robinson also chimed in with nine points from the kicking tee as the Cherry and Whites bounced back from last weekend's hammering at Firhill.

The first-half was all Glasgow, with the Shed roaring a cry of 'what a load of rubbish' as their side trooped from the field 6-0 down after a penalty and a drop-goal from Warriors fly-half Dan Parks. Recalled openside Andy Hazell also spent 10 first-half minutes in the sin-bin for cynically ending a pacy Glasgow counter-attack.

The second-half was a different story and the introduction of All Black prop Greg Somerville brought a string of scrum penalties the way of the home side. Sharples rounded off a concerted period of pressure by carrying three defenders over the line with him and Glasgow had no response to the mounting demands placed on their defence.

A pacy break from fullback Olly Morgan was supported by Robinson and Sharples close to the visitors' line and blindside Alasdair Strokosch found a brilliant offload to put Brown over in the corner.

Biarritz extended their unbeaten run in this season's competition with a convincing 26-8 victory over the Dragons at Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli on Saturday after their original fixture at Rodney Parade on Friday night was postponed due to a frozen pitch. Biarritz scrum-half Dimitri Yachvili ran the game for the Top 14 side - contributing 23 of his team's points courtesy of two tries, two conversions and three penalties. Yachvili put the visitors ahead with an early penalty but the Dragons hit back with winger Richard Fussell touching down. Dragons fly-half James Arlidge and Yachvili then traded penalties to see the French side lead 9-8 at the break.

Biarritz proved far too strong for their hosts in the second-half and international centre Damien Traille stretched their lead with a 52nd minute drop goal, and on the hour Yachvili stole away from a lineout in the Dragons' 22 for a try which he also converted. The Dragons stormed back looking for a losing bonus point but Yachvili intercepted a pass from Shaun Connor near his own line and raced clear. Fullback Martyn Thomas chased him down but Yachvili found Arnaud Mignardi in support and the replacement repaid the compliment for Yachvili to cross for his second try, which he again converted.

Pool 3

Ospreys powered to the top of Pool 3 with a 45-19 demolition of Viadana at the Liberty Stadium. Man-of-the-Match Tommy Bowe crossed twice as the Welsh region followed up their 62-7 win in Italy last week with a less convincing six tries to one victory at an icy cold Liberty Stadium.

Dan Biggar, still only 20, provided 16 points to make it a remarkable 37 points out of 37 with the boot from the two Viadana clashes. But the big plus point for the Ospreys was the return of Lions prop Adam Jones. The tight-head came on 58 minutes into the match for his first rugby in six months since dislocating his shoulder in the Lions' second Test against South Africa last June. Captain Ryan Jones also made a welcome return for the Ospreys having recovered from the back injury that ruled him out of the Wales-Australia game last month.

The Pool's other game was a thriller at Welford Road, where Leicester hung on to defeat Clermont Auvergne 20-15 in our Game of the Week.

Pool 4

Stade Francais seized the initiative in Heineken Cup Pool Four with a 29-16 victory over Ulster at the Stade Jean Bouin.

The contest had been scheduled to take place in Brussels yesterday but snow forced the postponement and the fixture was switched to Stade's Paris home. The hosts thrived on home turf as Dimitri Szarzewski and Benjamin Kayser rounded off forward efforts with tries and France fly-half Lionel Beauxis was unerringly accurate with the boot - kicking 19 points, seven from seven attempts - to put Stade clear of Ulster and Edinburgh at the top of the standings.

Ian Humphreys kicked 11 points and Andrew Trimble scored a second-half solo try but Ulster fell to a second Heineken Cup loss of the season. There was the prospect of bad blood between the sides following last weekend's 23-13 win for Ulster at Ravenhill - a result that was overshadowed by allegations of gouging. Stade scrum-half Julien Dupuy was on Friday slapped with a six-month ban, while a January hearing hangs over the head of David Attoub.

Edinburgh kept their quarter-final hopes alive with a narrow 9-6 victory over Bath at Murrayfield. The hosts opened the scoring thanks to a Chris Paterson penalty in the second minute but handed Bath the chance to level the scores moments later - however Nicky Little's effort fell short of the posts. Edinburgh continued to press but their adventure brought no reward and eventually the visitors levelled and then took the lead through the boot of Little.

However, no sooner were Bath ahead than they gave away a penalty soon after the restart and Paterson struck the straightforward kick home and the teams turned drawing 6-6. Benefiting from touch kicks by Paterson plus pick and go by the forwards they camped in Bath territory and took the lead once again just past the hour mark. In the closing stages Bath sub Ryan Davis missed two penalties, while Phil Godman was off-target with one effort from long distance.

Pool 5

Sale Sharks kept their Heineken Cup hopes alive by coming from behind to defeat Harlequins 21-17 at a snowy Edgeley Park.

Quins led 14-8 at half-time after tries from Nick Evans and Aston Croall but a 55th-minute score from prop Eifion Roberts edged the Sharks back in front. Evans claimed a penalty soon after to reduce the deficit to a solitary point but Sale held on to record their second win inside eight days against the Londoners and maintain the pressure on Toulouse.

Sale were ahead as early as the third minute thanks to a try from Sisa Koyamaibole but they found Quins a tougher nut to crack this weekend after a free-flowing victory at the Stoop last time out. Quins have now lost all four of their group matches but they contributed to an entertaining encounter which was almost abandoned in the 70th minute because of the hazardous conditions. Match officials asked ground staff to clear snow from around the perimeter of the pitch and the final 10 minutes were played out.

Toulouse strengthened their grip at the top of Pool 5 with a commanding 23-7 victory over Cardiff Blues at Stade Municipal. Scrum-half Frederic Michalak was the star of the show for the three-time champions with an 18-point tally on the way to the man of the match award. Michalak produced a polished performance by booting five penalties and a drop goal as well as setting up captain Thierry Dusautoir's first-half try to leave the Blues with zero points from the fixture.

The Blues hit back briefly through Faao Filise's score but on the day that saw Gareth Thomas reveal he was gay, the former Wales and British & Irish Lions captain was left on the losing side against his former team as the visitors' ill-discipline proved costly. Thomas came on for the final eight minutes in the south of France with the score at 20-7 but the damage had already been done after Andy Powell and captain Paul Tito were yellow carded by Irish official Alan Lewis.

Pool 6

Leinster hit top form for the second successive weekend to crush Scarlets 39-7 at the RDS in Dublin.

Rob Kearney, Gordon D'Arcy and Brian O'Driscoll grabbed two tries each. Shane Horgan also crossed the Scarlets' line, while the visitors' only response came in the final quarter when full-back Rhys Priestland broke through for a converted score. The key moment came just before half-time when, just as the Scarlets looked set to cross the Leinster try-line, Deacon Manu's pass was intercepted by Horgan, who outstripped Stephen Jones and Priestland to finish from 80 metres out.

The Scarlets defence gave way after eight minutes when Kearney managed to slide in at the left corner, taking a pass from Horgan after CJ van der Linde and Shaun Berne had made headway into the 22. The visitors took time to get within sight of the Leinster whitewash only for Manu's pass, with a two-man overlap, to be snaffled by Horgan in devastating fashion.

The Scarlets' resolve had been broken and Leinster cruised through the second half, securing the bonus point within six minutes as D'Arcy danced through from close range. O'Driscoll muscled his way over for the fifth try, with support from Kearney and replacement Bernard Jackman.

A superb catch by Kearney, a decibel-raising run from Jackman and a sweet draw and feed from Berne preceded D'Arcy's second try. Starved of territory, the Scarlets lifted the siege just past the hour mark and, with Kearney foiled by the bounce of the ball, Priestland hared through for a consolation try. But, showing no mercy, Leinster had the final say when replacement Fergus McFadden fed O'Driscoll for a simple score in the left corner.

London Irish notched their second successive bonus point victory with a 34-13 victory over Brive at the Madejski Stadium. England fullback Delon Armitage made a try-scoring return from shoulder surgery as the Exiles completed another demolition job of French strugglers Brive.

Armitage's searing individual effort in the last minute earned Irish the vital four-try bonus point that kept them on course for a showdown with Leinster in Round 6. The Exiles were dominant throughout and would have been kicking themselves had they failed to take maximum spoils for the second week running against Brive, who had four players sin-binned and remain without a point in the competition.

London Irish raced into a 20-6 half-time lead with tries from Tom Homer, the England Under-20 winger who scored twice last weekend, and Seilala Mapasua. Elvis Seveali'i showed neat footwork to score a third but it was not until the final play of the game that Armitage, who had come on as a 66th-minute replacement, sealed the bonus point.