Edinburgh pulled off one of the biggest shocks in the history of the European Cup by beating champions Toulouse 23-16 at Meadowbank yesterday, but they endured a fraught final few moments before clinching victory.

A late Jean-Baptiste Elissalde penalty left the home side frantically clinging to a two-point lead in the fourth minute of stoppage time before Chris Paterson raced the length of the Toulouse half. He then linked brilliantly with Brendan Laney, who galloped over to apply the killer touch.

Toulouse had opened up a six-point lead with penalties by Elissalde and Benoit Baby. But identical scores by Laney and Paterson levelled the contest. The Frenchmen struck just before the interval thanks to a piece of magic from World Cup outhalf Frederik Michalak. He skipped past Marcus Di Rollo before cruising in on the Edinburgh line and freeing Yannick Jauzion to finish. Elissalde added the tricky conversion.

It was a cruel and barely-deserved blow for the Gunners, but they responded in stirring style. In the wake of darts at the line by Simon Webster and Allan Jacobsen, they gambled by running a penalty in the shadow of the posts.

Their boldness paid off seconds later as Scotland lock Nathan Hines was powered over by his second-row mate Scott Murray.

Even better was to come - and this time Murray was the executioner. Craig Smith set off on a rumble after scooping up loose lineout ball and was floored just a couple of paces from the target. It was recycled in slick fashion and, after further attempts by Laney and Paterson, Murray was helped over by skipper Todd Blackadder. Laney followed up to stroke over the conversion from a tricky angle to open up a five-point gap.

A tense finale was ensured wen Elissalde bagged another penalty. That left the stage to Paterson and Laney to put the seal on an astonishing display.

England's World Cup heroes helped ease London Wasps through their curtain-raising cup clash against Perpignan at the Causeway Stadium yesterday with a 28-7 victory.

Laurence Dallaglio, Stuart Abbott, Josh Lewsey, Simon Shaw and Joe Worsley were all back in action, and Lewsey, moving from his England full back position to the wing, had an immediate impact.

Outhalf Alex King had created a comfortable, six-point cushion with two penalties and Lewsey helped Wasps gallop further into the lead with a 13th-minute try.

Wasps had looked dangerous from the whistle, and after a move from the lineout, which saw the ball swept across the field, the home side finally got their reward when a break from scrumhalf Rob Howley set up Lewsey on the left wing.

King converted, before it was the turn of centre Abbott to register his name on the scoreboard. Wasps had been piling on the pressure and the battering they gave Perpignan's defence paid off when Abbott found space and jinked his way over the try-line.

Again King converted, before adding an injury-time penalty to hand Wasps 23 unanswered points against last season's cup finalists.

Wasps lost none of their sparkle after the break. Careless Perpignan threw away a penalty, allowing King to perfectly set up a lineout dangerously close to their rivals' try-line. Wasps' move was a tried and tested one with Trevor Leota throwing to lock Shaw who helped drive the pack forward.

But catching the Frenchmen unaware, Howley set the ball loose feeding out wide to King, Tom Voyce and then Lewsey who pounced to score on the right wing.

Perpignan's blushes were only spared when outhalf Manny Edmonds muscled his way over the try line after a successful lineout. The pack had driven forward but scrumhalf Jerome Fillol soon set the backs free and Edmonds jumped on the ball to struggle over and score.

Full back Frederic Cermeno converted, but Perpignan's last-gasp revival came too late to halt Wasps' march into next weekend's Pool Six clash against Calvisano.

Leeds Tykes made a successful cup debut yesterday with an opening 29-20 win over the Ospreys. But they had to endure an Ospreys comeback in the second half that saw the Welshmen creep back to within three points. Gordon Ross, who kicked 19 points, put over three second-half penalties to ensure victory.

Former cup winners Leicester got their campaign off to a losing start on Saturday at the Stade Jean Bouin as they fell to French champions Stade Francais 26-15.