Roundup: Kiwis in Europe

Former All Black Tom Taylor has popped up at Pau, but his appearance at fullback was not enough to prevent his new French Top 14 club from going down 18-22 to his old club Toulon in round two action.

Taylor's New Zealand teammates were Conrad Smith, Colin Slade, Chris King and Daniel Ramsay. King copped a yellow card, while Slade kicked two goals. Toulon fielded Ma'a Nonu at second five.

There were no less than 10 New Zealanders involved as Racing-Metro beat Lyon 29-16 in Paris. Dan Carter kicked four goals from No 10, while Ali Williams, now 35, made his debut off the bench after a year's hiatus from the game. Joe Rokocoko, Casey Laulala and Ben Tameifuna were also in the Racing starting line-up.

New Lyon signing Mike Harris, the former Wallaby and North Harbour utility back, wore the No 12 jersey, while on the wings were Rudi Wulf and Toby Arnold. Josh Bekhuis was at lock and Taiasina Tuifua joined the pack off the pine.

Aled de Malmanche and Paul Williams featured for Stade Francais in their 28-20 defeat at Brive.

Former Waikato hooker Hikairo Forbes scored a crucial try for La Rochelle in their 22-19 win at Grenoble. Uini Atonio and Jason Eaton also played in the pack, while Grenoble played Nigel Hunt (12), Steven Setephano (7) and Sona Taumalolo (1).

Bayonne and Castres had a 12-all stalemate, with Kade Poki, Tom Donnelly and Manu Leiataua fronting for the former. David Smith was on the left wing for Castres.

Toulouse, with Paul Perez and Joe Tekori in the 23, beat Bordeaux-Begles 22-17. The latter included Luke Braid and Hugh Chalmers in the loose forwards. Braid was yellow-carded.

Two goals to Ben Botica was not enough for Montpellier to defeat Ben Stanley's Clermont, going down 26-22.

England's Aviva Premiership and the Guinness PRO12 kick off this weekend.