Sale Sharks scored only six tries in their first six matches this season. Yet here they come in Europe, swaggering into their director of rugby's old backyard, and score four tries and a bonus point that will prove priceless as pool one of the Heineken Cup unfolds.

It was, Philippe Saint-Andre said on Saturday, his second-best day since he arrived at Sale three years ago, behind winning the Guinness Premiership in 2006. But, in broader terms, this was Sale's finest moment of a competition in which they have never gone beyond the last eight.

“For us, this was the most important game of the group,” Brian Kennedy, the Sale chairman, said. “People know us as having an exciting team with big potential, but it's exciting to see it fulfilled. The French know us more than the Mancunians do because there's a Gallic tint to the team.”

Luke McAlister, the New Zealand centre, will take the plaudits for an authorative display at the Stade Marcel Michelin, where Saint-Andre played for nine years. But just as valuable was the work of unsung heroes such as Luke Abraham and Neil Briggs, the hirsute Abraham on the flank resembling Sébastien Chabal to such a degree that he could help the No8 to regain his France place.

Sale were dominated for an hour, at the scrum and for possession and territory. They conceded a stream of penalties, but started so well - and finished even better - that Clermont, runners-up in the Top 14 last season, were reduced to relative anonymity. They lacked ambition and, even when they did look for width, so effective was Sale's sweeping defence that nothing they tried came off.

Success came at a cost. Lee Thomas damaged his right shoulder and will be out for five weeks, but Sale hope that Dwayne Peel, the Wales scrum half, will recover from a “stinger” injury to face Munster on Sunday.

Peel made the break from which Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe sent David Doherty over for the first try and when he was replaced by Charlie Hodgson, with Richard Wigglesworth moving from fly half to scrum half, Hodgson gave a reminder of his distribution skills. His pass freed Rory Lamont before McAlister scurried over, then Abraham forced the turnover that allowed McAlister to send Rudi Kiel through. Kiel weighed in with the catch that prompted the bonus-point try for Mark Cueto.

Scorers: Clermont Auvergne: Penalty goals: James 5 (32min, 36, 49, 59, 69). Sale Sharks: Tries: Doherty (20), McAlister (52), Kiel (73), Cueto (77). Conversions: McAlister 3. Penalty goals: McAlister 2 (6, 15).

Scoring sequence (Clermont Auvergne first): 0-3, 0-6, 0-13, 3-13, 6-13 (half-time), 9-13, 9-20, 12-20, 15-20, 15-27, 15-32.

Clermont Auvergne: A Floch; N Nalaga, B Baby (rep: P-M Garcia, 54), S Bai (rep: A Mignardi, 76), JMalzieu; B James, P Mignoni; L Emmanuelli (rep: TDomingo, 62), M Ledesma (rep: M Lozupone, 62), D Zirakashvili (rep: Emmanuelli, 72), J Pierre, TPrivat (rep: C Samson, 59), J Bonnaire, AAudebert, E Vermeulen.

Sale Sharks: R Lamont; M Cueto (rep: C Bell, 78), LMcAlister, L Thomas (rep: R Keil, 13), D Doherty; R Wigglesworth, D Peel (rep: C Hodgson, 45); L Faure (rep: Roberts, 72), N Briggs (rep: M Jones, 78), ERoberts (rep: S Turner, 41), C Jones (rep: J White, 69), K Ormsby, J M Fernández Lobbe, L Abraham, S Chabal (rep: D Schofield, 75).

Referee: A Lewis (Ireland).

Attendance: 15,680.