Former All Black captain Tana Umaga made a scoring debut with his first touch of the ball for his French club Toulon in their 22-16 victory over Lyon in the French Second Division clash in Toulon on Sunday.
The 33-year-old center started repaying part of the reported 300,000 euros (US$382,374) he is being paid while he takes a temporary leave of absence from the game back in New Zealand with the only try for the hosts in the 23rd minute.
Umaga was unable to make a greater impact on the game because of a lack of ball from the Toulon forwards. He was nevertheless targetted for some rough treatment and a Lyon player was sin-binned for a high tackle in the second-half.
PHOTO: AFP
Umaga, who went off shortly before the final whistle because he was suffering from cramp, said he had been surprised by the crowd.
"The crowd was amazing and I was very much surprised by all this," the 74-times capped back admitted.
"It [the crowd] is very close to the ground. In New Zealand, there's more space between the crowd and the players. Here, you can feel the fans, there's much more noise, it is similar to South Africa. I've been here for only two days, but it was OK for me, even if I felt a little bit nervous before the game. But I think all the backs made it easier for me tonight," he said.
Toulon coach Gilbert Doucet said he was delighted at the impact Umaga had made.
"Umaga gave pleasure to everybody and with his first touch of the ball he scored. He is rather sur-prised by all the media attention he has received and asked whether he had to sign all the autographs he was asked for," Doucet said.
The result leaves Toulon seventh -- some 11 points adrift of leaders Beziers -- after eight matches.
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