James O’Connor made the most of a return to Toulon’s starting team on Monday morning, finishing with two tries as his team beat Pau, 21-17.
O’Connor’s start to the season was delayed by knee surgery and he had been in and out of the team before this weekend.
It was Quade Cooper who set O’Connor up for his first five-pointer, in the 25th minute, with a trademark cutout pass putting the winger over.
His second came in the 55th minute, from a lineout, helping Toulon to a four-point win.
Cooper had a mixed day, being handed a yellow card in the 35th minute, the first of two Toulon cards in the match.
Wallabies winger Drew MItchell was replaced by Bryan Habana in the 56th minute of the win.
The victory puts Toulon just two points adrift of the top three sides.
Will Genia’s Stade Francais pulled off an incredible upset over competition heavyweights Toulouse, with a try in the 77th minute clinching the thriller.
The Parisians missed the conversion but it was enough to hang on to a one-point lead over third-placed Toulouse
Genia played 47 minutes of the match, replaced by Julien Dupuy just after half-time.
The victory little bearing on Stade Francais’s ladder position, still in 11th spot, but an unlikely win will hand them a major morale boost.
PREMIERSHIP
Ex-Wallabies captain James Horwill played the full game for Harlequins in a tight 24-20 win over Worcester, keeping them in the competition’s top three.
Cooper Vuna, playing on the wing for Worcester, played 75 minutes in the grinding match.
PRO12
Former Wallabies back Luke Burgess played a full 80 minutes at halfback for Zebre as they defeated Italian rivals Benetton Treviso for the second week in a row, 18-8.
TOP LEAGUE
Japan's Top League will resume this weekend, with playoffs getting underway.
