Winners & losers of the weekend

Winners

Bayonne

A happy return to life in the Top 14 for the Basque based side as they toppled French giants Toulon in an impressive victory. After a tight 1st half which saw the sides level 13-13 at the break, the promoted side raced into a 28-16 lead thanks to tries from Gregory Arganese and Jean Monribot. Toulon fought back and narrowed the deficet to 5 points in the remaining 10 minutes but some fantastic reserve from the home sides defence saw out the win and gave them the perfect start.

Julian Savea

After a tough season where he has struggled for form, Savea dotted down for a confidence boosting score as the All Blacks stormed to victory over Australia. Savea became the quickest man to reach 40 tries for the All Blacks as he scored a trademark Julian Savea try, bashing his way to the line with a great finsih in the corner. With Waisake Naholo a doubt for next weeks clash, it could be Julian Savea's chance to get himself back into Steve Hansen's starting 15.

Griquas

The shock result of the Currie Cup came from the Northern Cape Province as minnows Griquas defeated last years champions the Lions. In a real battle it was the Poubloues who edged it, fighting off late pressure to win 30-24. Griquas will be hoping they can amke it 2 wins on the bounce when they face off against the Steval Pumas. 

Fiji

 The Olympic 7s champions returned home to Suva to a heroes welcome, as thousands gathered the streets and at the National Stadium to celebrate the island's first gold medal in the Olympics. Head coach Ben Ryan was awarded Companion of Order in Fiji for his contribution to Fijian rugby.

Losers

Michael Cheika

A weekend to forget for the Wallabies boss as his side were humbled by the All Blacks in Sydney. The pressure is on Cheika as he must try stop the 5 game losing streak as they head to Eden Park next week to face off against New Zealand. If the defeat wasn't already bad enough, Australia suffered 3 injuries to backs and face a crisis at centre as Matt Giteau, Matt Toomua and Rob Horne all came off in a damning first half.

Auckland

A revenge clash for Auckland which couldn't of gone any worse. Last years Mitre Cup runners off faced off against winners Canterbury looking to start the competition on a high note, however they received a uhmbling 43-3 defeat. The damage was done in an opening half hour, as the home side were ruthless scoring 3 tries and a penalty lead to a 24-0 margin. It went from bad to worse as before HT and 2 minutes after the break Canterbury added tries through Reed Prinsep and Jonny McNicholl. Nathan Vella finished off the rout as Auckland left Canterbury empty handed.