The former Scarlets back-row forward was forced to leave the field with a dislocated elbow and is now expected to be out of action for a month, definitely ruling him out of their must-win home clash with champions Leinster at the weekend.

Heineken Cup Pools & Fixtures

Saturday’s loss was Brive's fourth in five games, and their sixth overall in a season which continually refuses to ignite.

Fly-half Andy Goode kicked three first-half penalties against the Scarlets and believes Brive were good value for a losing bonus point – something that was denied them by the home side’s second try late on.

“We held on in there. They went in at half-time with an 11-9 lead but I didn’t think by any means we were out of the game. With about six minutes to go in the match I think it was 17-12 and we had a penalty which we kicked to the corner, but in my opinion we should have taken the three points.

“The Heineken Cup is all about small margins. We were just on the wrong side of it. But we should really have had a bonus point,” said the England international.

Goode is now expecting a backlash from Leinster following their shock home defeat by London Irish. “I am sure that will be the kick up the backside they need. Obviously, we’ve lost our first game so we need to win our next game as well. We are in a pretty tough group,” he conceded.

“There is no Italian team which is normally a gimme, so it’s all about winning your home games. Hopefully it will be an intense atmosphere when we host Leinster next weekend and we can put on a good show,” he added.

There were no such concerns for three-time champions Stade Toulousain after their 36-17 romp against Sale Sharks on Sunday. Head coach Guy Noves declared himself “very satisfied” with his team’s performance, especially their opening 45 minutes by which time they had already secured the try-bonus.

“We had a very good start to the game, being very focused on our task, and then we took the bonus point early in the second-half. We relaxed a little bit after that but we know when we are in the mental disposition of the first sixty minutes we can do great things,” he added.

Vanquished Perpignan were still licking their wounds this week following their surprise 9-8 humbling away to Italian side Benetton Treviso. The loss was all the more galling for the French champions as Treviso had lost their previous 12 home games in the Heineken Cup. It also confirmed Perpignan’s poor away record this season, adding to the three league defeats they had already suffered at Montpellier, Bourgoin and Biarritz.

The defeat has cast a massive shadow over the Catalans’ hopes of a successful Heineken Cup run and they must now seek to pick up points against both Northampton Saints and two-time champions Munster if they are to progress from Pool 1.

They entertain Saints on Friday night and have at least been boosted by several key players following the lead of coach Jacques Brunel by signing contract extensions. Centres David Marty and Jean-Philippe Grandclaude have both agreed new three-year deals, with the highly rated Maxime Mermoz signing for two more years. The Catalans were particularly keen to secure Mermoz’s signature after the former Toulouse player attracted the attention of both Toulon and Racing-Metro 92.

Perpignan chairman Paul Goze will now turn his attention to securing new deals for Jean-Pierre Perez, Sébastien Chobet, Marius Tincu. Rimas Alvarez-Kairelis, Nicolas Durand and Nicolas Laharrague.