Welsh fullback Leigh Halfpenny kicked 13 points as Toulon edged the Llanelli Scarlets 28-18 in the European Champions Cup on Sunday.

Halfpenny, who has endured a terrible time with injuries since signing from the Cardiff Blues, put an early missed conversion behind him to lift his new side to victory.

The European champions were far from their best at the Stade Félix-Mayol, but tries from Matt Giteau, Maxime Mermoz and Steffon Armitage were enough to begin their title defence with a win.

However, they would've been disappointed not to have grabbed the bonus point against the Welsh after playing 20 minutes of the match with a man advantage. Juan Smith, Bryan Habana and Bakkies Botha all started for the French club, with the latter two still working their way back after the international break.

In Sunday's other matches, Dan Biggar starred for the Neath-Swansea Ospreys as they comfortably saw off the challenge of Treviso, Toulouse earned a hard-fought 30-23 win over Montpellier and Leinster fought back from a nine-point deficit to defeat Wasps in the final match of the first round.

Round 1 results (Sunday):

Ospreys 42 Treviso 7
Toulouse 30 Montpellier 23
Toulon 28 Scarlets 18
Leinster 25 Wasps 20

Wrap of Friday and Saturday matches

Photo: Bertrand Langlois/AFP Photo