Toulon secured a 43-20 win over Cardiff Blues in the Heineken Cup thanks to a dominant spell at the start of the second half.
The two teams were closely-matched in the first half, with Jonny Wilkinson kicking five penalties in the opening 40 minutes to give the defending champions a slender lead at the break.
Discipline cost the visitors at the start of the second period, as Benoit Bourrust and Ellis Jenkins were sent to the sin bin early on, leaving the Welsh side with 13 men for a five-minute spell.
The mistakes allowed the hosts to force two penalty tries, before David Smith scored their first try from open play with a quick dash out wide.
Sam Hobbs gave the visitors same hope late on, forcing his way through the Toulon defence to leave Cardiff 14 points down with eight minutes to play.
However, Robin Copeland was sent to the sin bin late on, and that allowed the home side the force their third penalty try of the half to seal the win and increase their lead at the top of pool two.
Sian Cowper
