Top 14 leaders Clermont Auvergne sealed their Heineken Cup quarter-final berth in style, running in nine tries tries away to Viadana as they overwhelmed the Italian side.

Clermont went into the match knowing a bonus-point win would be enough to guarantee their progress from Pool 3, and they achieved that five minutes before half-time when skipper Aurélien Rougerie touched down for their fourth try of a dominant opening period.

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The score was Rougerie's second of the half, adding to those by Fijian winger Napolioni Nalaga and French scrum-half Morgan Parra.

Parra was first over the line, touching down after just two minutes as 'Les Jaunards' got off to the perfect start. It remained largely one-way traffic thereafter, with the French side in total control as they continued their excellent recent form.

Viadana's only reply was a Lloyd Johansson drop-goal after nine minutes as they went in 3-26 down at half time. Full-back Garry Law added a penalty shortly after the resumption, but Clermont stepped on the gas once more to run in a further two tries as they moved 6-40 ahead after just 51 minutes. Replacement lock Elvis Vermeulen (on for the ko'd Jamie Cudmore) was first over, before recalled France winger Julien Malzieu followed in soon after.

Australian fly-half Brock James ensured maximum points were accrued by landing both conversions, adding to his three first-half efforts.

Four minutes later Nalaga grabbed his second - and Clermont's eighth - before prop Julio Garcia crossed for Viadana to add a modicum of respect to the score. Pierre Hola converted to leave it 13-45, but Clermont just came bouncing back, despite coach Vern Cotter introducing a host of second-half replacements.

A 64th-minute penalty try - converted by Anthony Floch - brought up the visitors' half century, although a subsequent yellow card for lock Julien Pierre briefly stopped the scoring. Indeed, Viadana used their man advantage to get their second try of the match, through replacement Gareth Krause, before France flanker Julien Bonnaire touched down two minutes from time for Clermont's ninth try of the afternoon. Floch again converted to make it 20-59 to the French side, and their joy was then doubled when they learnt that Ospreys had beaten Leicester Tigers 17-12 in the other Pool 3 match.

That means Clermont will be guaranteed a home quarter-final after going through as pool winners, just one point ahead of Ospreys. Twice champions Leicester, meanwhile, were dumped out.

Stade Francais also sealed their quarter-final berth despite losing 9-7 away to Edinburgh at Murrayfield. The Paris giants scored the only try of the match, through international lock Pascal Papé, but they were undone by Chris Paterson's boot as the Scot landed three penalties.

But the result was still enough to secure Stade top spot in Pool 4, although not enough to get them a home tie as they only finished with 18 points.

On Friday, French champions Perpignan bid 'adieu' to this season's Heineken Cup with a 34-6 home win against Benetton Treviso in Pool 1.

The win was only their second in the competition - from six outings - with the Catalans running in five tries (four in the second half) to seal their bonus-point win.

But the victory could not mask a massively disappointing Heineken campaign, which began with a shock 8-9 defeat away to Treviso in round one.

Friday's comprehensive win did at least see them finish on a winning note - a welcome result after losing six of their previous eight games in all competitions - although to label it as 'revenge' for their earlier loss in Italy would be stretching its significance.

Still, at least they gave the near 10,000-strong crowd something to cheer about on another chilly evening in southern France, with hooker Charles Geli grabbing the opening try just before the half-time interval. Treviso scrum-half Simon Picone was then sin-binned in the 40th minute to compound the visitors' misery as they went in 8-3 down.

Perpignan quickly capitalised on their numerical advantage after the break, with replacement hooker Marius Tincu following Geli's earlier example in crossing the try line. Nicolas Laharrague's conversion stretched the home side's advantage to 15-3, although Tobias Botes kicked a penalty soon after to give Treviso another lift.

The Italians continued to defend manfully as they held the at 15-6 until 15 minutes from time, but then Perpignan's superiority finally told as they scored three more tries in a devastating five-minute spell with second row Yohann Vivalda getting the first of those.

Tincu then doubled his own tally shortly after, with centre Jean-Philippe Grandclaude completing Perpignan's scoring when he crashed over 10 minutes from time. Jérôme Porical converted the last of those tries, adding to Laharrague's two earlier successes to leave the final score 34-6.

The win, however, was not enough to lift Perpignan above third place in Pool 1, with twice champions Munster beating Northampton Saints 12-9 in the group's other match on Friday night to ensure they ended as pool winners.

The Irish side had fly-half Ronan O'Gara (pictured) to again thank for their win as the veteran international landed four penalties - two in each half - but the hosts were given a mighty scare as Northampton's pack largely dominated throughout.

Munster even had to weather a 10-minute spell of pressure in the second half without their sin-binned skipper Paul O'Connell, and Northampton's defensive bonus means these two sides could yet meet again if the English team sneak through as one of the two best pool runners-up. They will now an anxious wait over the weekend to see if their efforts proved in vain or not, with their main rivals for that spot likely to come from Pools 3 and 6.