Holders Munster moved strongly towards the knockout stage of the Heineken Cup with a 22-12 away victory over Cardiff on Sunday.

The win matched Leicester's competition record of 11 successive victories and set a new mark of six in a row on the road.

The only try of the game went to Munster number eight Denis Leamy after half an hour while fly-half Ronan O'Gara was in his usual immaculate form with five penalties and a conversion.

Cardiff were always just about in the game on the back of four Ben Blair penalties but Munster had the edge and look sure to qualify as pool winners. They have 13 points, with Leicester second on nine after their 28-13 win at Bourgoin on Friday.

Cardiff have five but look out of contention as their next game is the away return with Munster, who have never lost a Heineken Cup match at home, followed by a trip to Leicester.

On Saturday three-times champions Toulouse suffered a setback when they lost 20-19 at Llanelli, their second defeat in their opening three Pool Five games. Llanelli have 13 points to the six of Toulouse. London Irish also have six after beating Ulster (five points) 29-13.

Tournament favourites Biarritz thumped Border Reivers 25-0 away to take control of Pool Six while Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll scored a hat-trick of tries in Leinster's 26-10 home win over Agen that took the Irish side top of Pool Two.

Perpignan, who had won their first two Pool One games, lost 36-28 at Castres in an exciting all-French contest featuring six tries. Castres now lead with 10 points to the nine of Perpignan. Wasps thrashed Treviso 55-0 to keep their chances of qualifying alive.

The key game of Pool Three saw Stade Francais beat Sale 27-16 in front of a 45,000 crowd in Paris. The French club led 17-6 at half-time thanks to two scintillating tries by Christophe Dominici and one by Julien Saubade. But the Sharks hit back in the second half and an interception try by Sebastien Chabal gave them hope before Saubade scored in similar circumstances to seal Stade's victory.