Taylor on target for Pau

Former All Black Tom Taylor kicked 15 points as Pau broke their drought in the French Top 14 championship with a big win over Lyon.

Taylor landed three penalties and three conversions in the 30-14 victory on Sunday (Monday NZ Time) which lifted Pau from 13th to 10th place after three rounds.

Fiji test wing Watisoni Votu scored two tries for Pau and compatriot Jale Vatubua also dotted down.

Taylor - who won three All Black caps in 2013 - was in his preferred first five-eighth role for Pau with ex-All Black Conrad Smith at centre. Former Southland, Wellington and Otago lock Daniel Ramsay was in the starting pack and former All Blacks Jamie Mackintosh and Colin Slade came off the bench for the team coached by ex-All Blacks first five-eighth Simon Mannix.

Ma'a Nonu's Toulon bounced back from last week's defeat to edge Stade Toulouse 20-16 in a scrappy match in Toulon.

The home side scored tries to hooker Anthony Etrillard and Fijian wing Joshua Tuisova, but had two players sinbinned for the second successive week when fullback Hugo Bonneval and tighthead prop Marcel van der Merwe copped yellow cards.

Meanwhile, last season's English Premiership player of the year Jimmy Gopperth kicked nine points in Wasps' 21-10 win at Worcester.

Gopperth's conversion of Josh Bassett's match-sealing try glanced over off the inside of the upright.

Worcester's New Zealand-born British and Irish Lions centre Ben Te'o started after shrugging off a first round arm injury and had a strong defensive game.

But the Worcester Warriors lost tighthead prop Nick Shonert to a suspected broken ankle.

 

 

Photo by: Hagen Hopkins Caption: Fifteen points from former All Black Tom Taylor helped Pau collect their first win in France's Top 14 rugby competition.