The English Premiership club are the sole team to record maximum points from the first two rounds of the competition, achieving try bonuses in their 31-12 Round 1 victory at La Rochelle and 34-18 home win over Glasgow Warriors on Saturday.

Trailing 13-10 at the interval, the Chiefs scored three second-half tries through Henry Slade, Sam Simmonds and Tom O’Flaherty. Joe Simmonds converted all three in a haul of 14 points.

The Chiefs are already five points clear of second-placed Sale Sharks in Pool 2, after Sharks notched their first Champions Cup win of the season on Sunday, beating La Rochelle 25-15 at home, with Chris Ashton, the European Cup’s record try-scorer, boosting his tally to 40.

It is a different story in Pool 1, where Leinster Rugby and Northampton Saints are locked on nine points after winning their first two matches.

Leinster, 33-19 winners over Benetton Rugby in Round 1 at RDS Arena, battled to a 13-6 triumph on Saturday at Lyon, where Johnny Sexton captured his sixth European Cup man-of-the-match award after scoring eight points.

Meanwhile, Northampton, 25-14 home conquerors of Lyon in Round 1, maintained their 100 per cent record in an amazing match at Benetton, where Dan Biggar’s penalty in the fourth minute of added time clinched a 35-32 win.

Toulouse also have nine points, but they are four clear of Montpellier at the head of Pool 5, after following their 25-20 triumph at Gloucester Rugby in Round 1 with a 32-17 home win over Connacht Rugby, who had led 17-15 going into the final quarter of Saturday’s game.

It was another case of so near yet so far for Gloucester on Sunday, when they lost 30-27 at Montpellier, who dug deep to repel the English club, after having Jacques du Plessis red-carded in the 55th minute. Benoit Paillaugue kicked 15 points for the TOP 14 team.

Only two points separate Pool 3 leaders Ulster Rugby and ASM Clermont Auvergne, after Clermont notched a losing bonus point in their 18-13 defeat at Kingspan Stadium on Friday. Harlequins are just two points further adrift following their try-less, 15-9 home win over Bath Rugby on Saturday.

However, the tightest group is Pool 4, where Racing 92 and Munster Rugby are tied on seven points – only two in front of Saracens. The top two fought out an epic 21-21 draw in Limerick on Saturday, when Saracens chalked up their first win of the European season by a 44-3 margin at home to Ospreys.

Exeter Chiefs, who have qualified only once for the knockout stages of the European Cup in their history, look poised to improve that disappointing record this season after blasting out of the blocks in Pool 2 of the Heineken Champions Cup.