Julian Savea's fresh start playing rugby in France continues to come with disappointments after he was yellow-carded in Toulon's stunning loss to Newcastle in the Champions Cup's first round.
Savea, who departed the Hurricanes and New Zealand Rugby earlier this year to make the move to Europe, was one of three Toulon players sin binned in the 26-25 home defeat to English Premiership strugglers Newcastle this morning.
The former All Blacks winger was the last of the trio to be yellow-carded but his gave Newcastle what proved to be the game-winning penalty with Joel Hodgson slotting the three points to give them the 26-25 lead with 13 minutes left.
The 28-year-old has yet to fire for his new club since joining them on a two-year-deal, failing to score a single try.
His form even saw him benched in Toulon's recent French Top 14 loss to Montpellier - their fifth in seven games to lie 12th on the competition ladder.
Toulon now face an uphill battle to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup. They only have round robin games against Montpellier and Edinburgh remaining and only the top placed-team is guaranteed a berth.
Montpellier beat Edinburgh 21-15 earlier today to sit top of Pool 5.
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