The Sharks were brought back down to earth with a bump as they failed to breach the Biarritz try-line in a one-sided affair at Parc des Sports Aguilera.

Sale crossed the Channel in a buoyant mod after last weekend's narrow win over the Cardiff Blues, but any hopes of Biarritz conceding like they did to Leinster in the first round vanished in the opening minute.

Biarritz were too good in all departments and the diehard Sharks fans who made the trip to the coastal city were never confident of success as Sale fell behind early and could not bridge the gap.

Biarritz helped themselves to four tries and a bonus point to get their cup campaign back on the rails.

Former Test winger Jimmy Marlu stunned Sale with a try after only 46 seconds, and with Dimitri Yachvili successfully converting, the visitors were 7-0 down before coach Jim Mallinder had found his seat.

Lock and man of the match Ovidiu Tonita scored for the home side in the 26th minute before the Sharks finally troubled the scorers with a Braam van Straaten penalty goal to take the score to 14-3 at half-time.

Yachvili added a penalty goal in the 46th minute, and the Sharks' slim hopes disappeared when Biarritz fullback Nicolas Brusque scored on the hour mark.

Marlu's second try earned the home side a bonus point as the Sharks' defence went from poor to non-existent.

Sale now face a home-and-away series against Irish heavyweights Leinster and will need to pick their game up if they hope to get anything out of those two matches.