Gallagher Premiership review: Exeter, Bath and Bristol pick up wins

Newcastle 17-24 Exeter

The Chiefs led 14-10 at half-time thanks to the Simmonds brothers, with back-row Sam driven over twice from close range and Joe converting both.

And despite Newcastle hitting back to level the scores at 17-17 in the second period, a try from flanker Matt Kvesic - when the Falcons were down to 14 men with Toby Flood in the sin bin - sealed victory for the league leaders.

It was Newcastle who scored first with a try after just two minutes. Tom Arscott and Jonny Williams opened the Chiefs defence with ease and winger Zach Kibirige scorched in from 30 metres, with Flood adding the conversion.

However, the Falcons comprehensively failed to deal with the restart and handed the ball to Exeter. Soon after Sam Simmonds drove over for the try, with the television match official ruling the touchdown was good.

Newcastle survived another trial by TMO six minutes later when a drive over the line by the Chiefs pack was chalked off, and the hosts then defended superbly, forcing a break out which led to spell of pressure.

A weaving Simon Hammersley run should have yielded a score and a penalty to the corner was wasted by a poor throw.

Exeter took full advantage when a penalty of their own to the corner saw Sam Simmonds driven over for his second try six minutes before half-time.

Flood slotted over a penalty just before the break but the seven-point gap was restored three minutes into the second half when Joe Simmonds knocked over a kick of his own following a tip tackle

Newcastle got themselves level with a converted 53rd-minute try from Williams. The Falcons strung together a period of pressure after another Hammersley foray and Flood floated the ball out to Arscott, whose side pass put Williams over.

But when Flood was sin-binned in the 64th minute for preventing the release, Exeter immediately went to the corner with the penalty and Matt Kvesic was driven over for a crucial try converted by Gareth Steenson.

With 10 minutes left Newcastle twice went to the corner with penalties but again the throw was poor and the chance wasted.

There was a frantic end to game when Newcastle scrambled a losing bonus point after Exeter had failed to score a fourth try with a driving line-out with seconds on the clock.

Newcastle forced a turnover scrum but then Joel Hodgson missed touch. Exeter ran it back but the Falcons won a penalty which finally made sure of that losing bonus point.

Bristol 20-13 Harlequins

Bristol made it two homes wins in succession by downing lethargic Harlequins 20-13 at Ashton Gate.

After defeating Bath 17-10 in their opening fixture, the Premiership newcomers repeated the dose with a deserved win in incessant rain.

Piers O'Connor scored their only try with Ian Madigan kicking five penalties.

Quins began brightly to take a 10-0 lead but hampered by three yellow cards, they fell away badly with only Danny Care bringing any impetus to their game. He scored their try which James Lang converted before adding two penalties.

Harlequins dominated early possession and took a ninth minute lead when Care spotted a gap to dart over after his pack had provided a platform from a driving line-out.

Lang converted before adding a penalty for a 10-0 lead at the end of a first quarter, during which Bristol had hardly struck a blow.

However the Bears sprung to life with their first sustained period of pressure and when Joe Marler was penalised for off-side, Madigan put the hosts on the scoreboard.

Bristol continued their improvement as Ed Holmes made a strong run to send Alapati Leiua away down the left flank and win his side a penalty with Quins' centre, Ben Tapuai, picking up a yellow card for a deliberate off-side.

An excellent catch and pass by Bristol full-back O'Connor gave Leiua the chance to run 50 metres before the wing kicked ahead to win a five-metre scrum but the hosts blew their opportunity with a knock-on.

Tapuai therefore returned from the sin-bin with no damage done to the scoreboard but Bristol continued to have much the better of the second quarter despite losing their number eight Jordan Crane through injury.

Their dominance was rewarded with Harry Thacker making a crucial burst to put the visitors' defence on the back foot and when the ball was recycled, O'Connor was on hand to dive over.

Madigan missed the conversion but succeeded with a simple penalty to give Bristol an 11-10 interval lead.

Eight minutes after the restart, Quins picked up another yellow card when Marler was binned for leading into a tackle with his forearm and Madigan made him pay with his third penalty.

Bristol lost Australian wing Luke Morahan with an injury but they overcame this setback to extend their lead with another penalty from Madigan.

Lang and Madigan exchanged penalties before Marler returned so Quins trailed 20-13 going into the final quarter, a deficit they never looked like clawing back with replacement Paul Lasike picking up a late yellow card for a high challenge.

Leicester 37-44 Worcester

Worcester stunned Leicester with a 79th-minute Ted Hill try to record their first Gallagher Premiership victory of the season, 44-37 at Welford Road.

Warriors had led 37-11 midway through the second half after running in five tries, before Tigers mounted a late comeback which saw them level the game with four minutes remaining after George Ford's converted try.

However, replacement Hill did just enough to score in the corner at the end to shock the hosts and get the Warriors' campaign up and running.

Worcester made the perfect start at Welford Road, storming into a 14-0 lead inside six minutes.

Duncan Weir scored all 14 points, slamming down the opening try after two minutes following Bryce Heem's charging run with the try-scorer also converting, then doubling the visitors' advantage as he touched down by the posts after Pierce Phillips and Sam Lewis' tidy set-up.

Tigers soon settled with Ford kicking a penalty in front of the posts and he repeated the feat minutes later.

Weir scored three points of his own after Dan Cole's deliberate knock-on, before Worcester ran in their third try. Heem was the catalyst once more with hooker Jack Singleton eventually going over in the corner.

It took the hosts 25 minutes to score their first try. Ford found touch with a penalty, with the pack driving Guy Thompson over in the corner.

Ford missed the extras and Worcester were proving clinical at the other end, bagging the bonus-point through Chris Pennell. Weir missed the conversion but made amends with a penalty on the cusp of half-time to ensure Geordan Murphy's men had plenty to ponder at the break.

Leicester looked quicker and slicker immediately after half-time, but went without reward.

Worcester piled more misery on the hosts when Hill battled over for a debut try and Worcester's fifth to match the efforts of their 31-27 win at Welford Road last season.

Tigers were handed a lifeline when Jonny May galloped away to the corner for his fifth try of the season and it got better five minutes later when David Denton wrestled through.

Ford drilled the extras this time, but Leicester were still in need of two converted scores of levelling.

Number eight Sione Kalamafoni put the hosts within seven points after his try and Ford's impressive conversion from out wide.

After one failed attempt, Leicester levelled the game when Ford skipped away from midfield, thwarting tackles before crossing the whitewash.

He converted - but it was not enough as Hill crossed in the corner and Weir kicked the conversion with the final play.

Bath 17-15 Northampton

Northampton's Dan Biggar hit the post with a last-gasp conversion that would have earned a draw for Saints against Bath at the Recreation Ground.

Bath were cruising at 17-7 going into the last 10 minutes but the Wales fly-half landed a penalty and then sent left wing Tom Collins away for a try in the last minute. He just could not add the extra points and the game finished 17-15..

Home fly-half Freddie Burns was a relieved man because, after scoring or creating all his side's points, it was his deliberate knock-on that surrendered territory and possession in those closing moments.

The game was only seven minutes old when Bath lost Aled Brew to a painful-looking wrist injury, allowing former England Under-20 cap Max Wright a first team debut at outside centre.

Bath then shoved the Saints pack off a scrum but Burns pushed the penalty kick to the right from 40-plus metres.

As a heavy drizzle set in for the afternoon, both sides spent as much time spilling ball as winning it and even Biggar dropped a gentle pass from his scrum-half. Line-outs were just as much a game of pinball.

It was no surprise that the opening score was a typical wet-weather creation. Northampton were quicker to a hoisted kick and although Burns tried to intercept a pass, Cobus Reinach was able to hack on the loose ball and dive for the touchdown.

Biggar converted to give his side a 7-0 lead.

One of Northampton's most promising attacking positions was from a scrum on the Bath 22, but Reinach was far too deliberate with his pass inside to Andy Symons and Burns picked it off. There was no stopping the fly-half on his 80-metre dash upfield and he added the conversion too.

He could have sent Bath in with a lead at half-time but again pushed the kick wide.

A blustery wind added to the players' ball-handling problems after the break but Bath's scrum was in the ascendant, winning successive penalties and forcing Saints to remove former All Black Ben Franks for Ehran Painter.

As the possession stats began to swing in Bath's favour, Teimana Harrison was penalised for not rolling away at a ruck and Burns kicked a 55th-minute penalty.

An audacious chip by Burns, tapped back into his hands by two Saints players, created a second Bath try on 63 minutes. But it took a sweet pass by replacement lock Elliott Stooke to send Joe Cokanasiga sauntering in at the corner and Burns converted for a 10-point lead.

Saints mounted a huge effort on the home line after Biggar's high kick was collected by Harry Mallinder but Attwood rallied the Bath defence and the visitors had to be content with a 72nd-minute penalty by Biggar.

Collins' try made for a thrilling finale but Biggar hit the post with the conversion and Bath collected the points.

Saracens 38-15 Gloucester

Maro Itoje scored two tries as Saracens issued a statement of intent in their Gallagher Premiership title defence by dismantling Gloucester 38-15.

The champions wrapped up the bonus point with almost half an hour to spare, Itoje crossing twice and David Strettle, Sean Maitland and Alex Lozowski also touching down in a procession at Allianz Park.

Danny Cipriani's hopes of leaving his mark on the clash three days after being omitted from England's latest training squad were ended by Saracens' overwhelming superiority.

The duel with Owen Farrell, who is Eddie Jones' preferred fly-half alongside George Ford, never materialised due to a forward mismatch that reduced Cipriani to a peripheral figure from the second quarter onwards.

Gloucester made an imposing start to the season with Cipriani dictating play behind a muscular pack, but they were battered into submission here in a chastening afternoon.

It was a fitting way for scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth to celebrate setting a new Premiership appearance record of 266, eclipsing the milestone previously held by Steve Borthwick.

Additional good news arrived in the successful comebacks from lengthy injury lay-offs made by forwards George Kruis and Schalk Burger, the former making his first start of the season before joining England at their three-day training camp in Bristol.

Saracens had amassed a 10-point lead inside seven minutes, Strettle invited to run in an easy try after Maitland was waved through midfield by a flailing Henry Trinder.

Farrell drew first blood in the fly-half duel with a penalty and conversion, but Cipriani became increasingly involved as Gloucester's pack began to rumble forward.

A kickable penalty was declined in favour of touch but there was insufficient space for Charlie Sharples on the right wing to make the most of Cipriani's long pass.

Saracens were more effective in possession and were the next to score after a Maitland turnover enabled Farrell to launch an up and under that was missed by Liam Williams but hit the crossbar and fell for Itoje to score.

Gloucester were coming apart at the seams as they lost back rows Ruan Ackermann and Lewis Ludlow during a costly passage of play close to their line that ended with Itoje being driven over for his second try.

Maitland was the next to cross after benefiting from a brilliant step and pass from replacement full-back Alex Goode as Saracens made an ominous start to the second half.

The rout continued when Williams escaped down the right wing, fooled two Gloucester defenders with a clever show before feeding Lozowski the scoring pass.

Mark Atkinson dummied his way through to stem the flow of Saracens points and Sharples produced a great finish in the left corner to claim the visitors' second try in added time.