Toulon went to great lengths to ensure that Bryan Habana was available for their match with Grenoble last Saturday. Habana played 10 minutes for the club but he probably should have played more as Toulon were upset by Grenoble 28-26. Grenoble suffered two yellow cards during the match but thanks to five penalties from Vincent Courrent and a try from Roland Bernard they were firmly in control of the match. Jonny Wilkinson hit seven penalties to keep Toulon in the match and Toulon actually had a chance to tie the match in the 80th minute when Matthew Giteau scored a try but Wilkinson was unable to convert. Stade Francais are the surprise at the top of the table after a big 38-3 win over Biarritz.
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Clermont overcome last week's embarrassing loss to Oyonnax by beating Toulouse in convincing fashion 38-19. Wesley Fofana scored the last of their four tries for Clermont. Bayonne are tied for second in the able with Clermont after being Perpignan 31-20. James Hook scored for Perpignan but it wasn't enough to overcome the balanced Bayonne. A drop goal from Pierre Bernard in the 77th minute earned a 21-20 win over Bordeaux over Castres. Bernard hit six penalties as well.Other weekend winners included Montpellier 33-24 over Brive and Racing Metro 22-9 over Oyonnax. Click here to see the table.
ITM Cup
Wellington are perfect on the season so far and are on top of the Premiership standings after a pair of wins during the week. First the team beat North Harbour 35-27 on the back of two tries from Charlie Ngatai, and then they added to Manawatu's so far dismal campaign with a 42-15 win. Lock Ross Filipo led the way in that match with two tries of his own. Auckland are also still perfect on the season just with one less game played. They beat Bay of Plenty 32-17. Canterbury are also perfect and trail Auckland by one point for second in the Premiership standings. They defeated a surprisingly poor Waikato side 47-10.
Otago's hold on the Ranfurly Shield lasted all of one week after they were beaten by Hawke's Bay at home. Hawke's Bay were in control of the match throughout most of the meeting and even had a 20-9 lead with roughly 20 minutes left. But Otago came back with a couple of tries. Ultimately it wasn't enough however as the Shield now returns up north. The win also pushed Hawke's Bay to the top of the Championship standings. Other winners over the week included Tasman 40-20 over Counties Manukau and Taranaki 15-14 over Southland. North Harbour and Northland played to a 33-33 draw. Click here to see the table.
Currie Cup
The Sharks are on top of the Currie Cup standings with 14 points after a 34-18 win over the Blue Bulls. Four different players scored for the Sharks while Akona Ndungane scores twice for the Blue Bulls. The Cheetahs picked up a 40-20 win over the Griquas. The Sharks got two tries from Johannes Prinsloo and tried from three others for the comprehensive win. The Griquas cause wasn't helped any when Roy Arnold was sent off in the 62nd minute. The Lions and Western Province fought to a 31-31 draw. The Lions scored more tries than Western Province (4 to 3) but Kurt Coleman's boot was strong once again with four penalties.
Top League
The Top League got underway this last weekend. Split into two groups this fall Suntory had no trouble staying in first place in group one after they beat the NTT Shinings Arcs 32-6. Hirotoki Onozawa, Ryan Nicholas, George Smith, and Yusuki Aoki scored tries in the win. The NTT-Docomo Red Hurricanes beat the Kyuden Voltex 29-7 and the Kobelco Steelers beat the NEC Green Rockets 28-26 to stay tied with Suntory at the top of group one. The Toyota Verblitz beat the Toyota Shokki Shuttle 21-18.
In group two the Panasonic Wildknights beat the Kintetsu Liners 46-0 and the Yamaha Jubilo beat the Kubota Spears 38-28 to go a top the group. Powerhouse Toshiba Fuchu Brave Lupus beat the Canon Eagles 10-8 to go in the winners column while the Ricoh Black Rams and the Coca-Cola West Red Sparks played to a 27-27 draw. Click here to see the standings.
Pro D2
Pau and Lyon are the early leaders in the Pro D2 after they earned bonus point wins over Auch and Carcassonne respectively. Lyon, who had a disappointing season least year won 52-38 while Pau topped Auch 27-12. A bunch of other winners are tied for second. An 80th minute try from Marc Baget put Beziers on top of Tarbes 20-19. In addition to Auch and Carcassonne, Aurillac are the only other team not to pick up any points on week one. They lost to Narbonne 34-23. Other winners include newly-relegated Agen 17-12 over Albi, Bourgoin 18-13 over Bressane, Dax 18-15 over Colomiers, and Mont-de-Marsan 31-28 over Rochelle.
Currie Cup First Division
It's 10 for 10 for the Pumas after their latest victory. They beat the Griffons 42-24. Other winners included the Eagles, who are now second in the standings, 58-42 over the Falcons, the Bulldogs 21-19 over the Cavliers, and Eastern Province 44-26 over the Leopards.
Shute Shield
The Shute Shield semi-finals are set. Many beat Eastern Suburbs 22-15 to set up a date with Eastwood, who had earned a bye to the semis. Sydney University, who also earned a bye, will play the Southern Districts, who had beaten Randwick 57-25.