Wasps' sting champs Toulon
Toulon, bidding for a fourth successive European Cup, also saw Wasps claim a crucial bonus point, which put the English Premiership outfit in charge of a tough Pool Five – having defeated Leinster 33-6 in last week's opening game.
Wasps ran in four tries against a Toulon side whose own scheduled opener against Bath was postponed in the aftermath of the Paris terror attacks.
Wasps, the 2004 and 2007 champions, seized control of the match at Coventry's Ricoh Arena with two tries in two minutes to leave the champions shell-shocked.
No.8 Nathan Hughes powered over in the left corner with Ruaridh Jackson adding the conversion.
Jackson then initiated and finished the second try with a smart kick ahead. The ball was collected by scrumhalf Joe Simpson who released Joe Launchbury.
Simpson was back in support to find Jackson, who raced the length of the 22 for a try which the Scottish flyhalf converted himself.
A Jonathan Pelissie penalty gave Toulon their first points with a penalty but Wasps quickly restored their 14-point advantage thanks to a monster Elliot Daly kick from the halfway line.
Jackson and Pelisse exchanged penalties as Wasps took a 20-6 lead into the interval.
There was no letting up after the break as Wasps grabbed a third try after 50 minutes when wing Frank Halai slipped through a gaping hole in the Toulon defence and sprinted to the line despite the close attentions of the pursuing Delon Armitage.
Wasps added a fourth score when Hughes powered over from a maul for his second try of the game.
The English side played the last seven minutes with 14 men after clearing their bench, but Toulon, with Australian flyhalf Quade Cooper enduring a frustrating tournament debut, could still not register a point in the second half.
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Hughes 2, Jackson, Halai
Con: Jackson 3
Pens: Daly, Jackson
For Toulon:
Pens: Pelissie 2
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Ben Jacobs, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.
Toulon: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Josua Tuisova, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Jonathan Pelissie, 8 Steffon Armitage, 7 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Juan Smith (captain), 5 Romain Taofifenua, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Anthony Etrillard, 1 Xavier Chiocci.
Replacements: 16 Bastien Soury, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Levan Chilachava, 19 Duane Vermeulen, 20 Mamuka Gorgodze, 21 Theo Belan, 22 Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 23 Konstantine Mikautadze.
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips (Ireland), Leo Colgan (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
