Scott Hamilton's hat-trick firest Leicester Tigers' Heineken Cup joy
And Ospreys' victory over Clermont Auvergne yesterday means that Tigers top Pool Three after the first two rounds of games.
New Zealander Hamilton earned the man-of-the-match award for his performance but was the first to admit that he was in the right place at the right time for all three of his tries.
It was far from a walk in the park for Richard Cockerill's side against an Italian outfit who had a good set-piece and caused Leicester some serious problems at the breakdown.
Tigers were penalised 16 times by the French referee and really pulled away from their opponents only in the final quarter of the game as Viadana lost their shape.
Four tries and 24 points came in the last 20 minutes in a showing reminiscent of last season's 60-16 win over Treviso.
Tigers struggled to find any fluency in the opening half and were frustrated by repeated infringements at the ruck. Their game was further hampered by another forced switch to their already injury-ravaged line-up when fly-half Jeremy Staunton was helped off the pitch early in the second half and Billy Twelvetrees moved from the centres to No.10.
It might not have been done in style but it was job done for Leicester – seven tries and five points.
It looked all too easy for the visitors in the early stages as they built up an 8-0 lead in as many minutes. Staunton's penalty was followed by a try for Johne Murphy who went in at the corner untouched after taking Hamilton's pass.
The home side, backed by beating drums, chants and some psychotic screaming from a supporter with a microphone, dug in, though.
Scrum-half Pierra Hola sunk a 30-metre penalty before Kaine Robertson brought them level with a try on 27 minutes.
Hola sent a perfectly-weighted crossfield kick to the right wing where Robertson beat Lucas Amorosino to the high ball. He sprinted free and took Hamilton on the outside before touching down. Hola narrowly missed a conversion which would have put Viadana in front, but the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella was rocking as the Italians dreamed of a first Heineken Cup win in 14 attempts.
Cheeky work from Tigers scrum-half James Grindal on the half-hour mark soon dampened their spirits and created an opening which Hamilton exploited for his opening try.
Tom Croft then showed tremendous strength to take three defenders with him and reach out over the line after a blindside break. Staunton converted to put Tigers 22-8 ahead at the interval.
The home side dug in well after the re-start, though, and the expected barrage of tries never arrived. Pierre Hola reduced the gap to 11 points on 54 minutes and Twelvetrees had to chase back to stop Gary Law scoring after a Tigers move broke down in midfield. A Viadana score there might have made it very interesting.
Tigers showed their class in the final quarter as they exposed some tiring Italian legs.
Twelvetrees' long mis-pass created space which lively substitute Matt Smith exploited and put Hamilton in the corner for his second.
Even when Jordan Crane was yellow carded on 62 minutes for repeated offending, Tigers stayed on top and Lucas Amorosino capitalised on Law's defensive slip to score under the posts.
Hamilton's hat-trick arrived with five minutes to go after a clinical break from substitute hooker Joe Duffey.
In search of as many tries as possible in case a tight group goes to a tie-breaker, Tigers declined to take a conversion attempt. A penalty try wrapped things up in the final minute.
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