A review of the weekend's action in the Gallagher Premiership
Joel Kpoku's late try maintained Saracens' unbeaten start to the Gallagher Premiership season as they battled past Sale 31-25 at Allianz Park.
Saturday
Saracens 31-25 Sale
Joel Kpoku's late try maintained Saracens' unbeaten start to the Gallagher Premiership season as they battled past Sale 31-25 at Allianz Park.
The champions trailed by four points when the flanker came off the bench to score, breaking Sale's hearts and securing a seventh league win of the season for Mark McCall's men.
Twenty points from South African fly-half Rob du Preez were not enough for the visitors, while Byron McGuigan scored their only try of the match.
Michael Rhodes, Alex Lewington and Nick Tompkins all crossed for Saracens, while Kpoku's score brought up the bonus point.
Du Preez nudged Sharks ahead with a penalty early on before Saracens' scrum-half Ben Spencer sent his chance to even it up just wide.
However, McGuigan made what would prove to be a costly error after failing to gather a kick in gusty conditions. He touched down behind his own try line and from the five-metre scrum Rhodes burrowed over on the second phase after 19 minutes, Spencer added the conversion to make it 7-3.
There was some redemption for Sharks just minutes later after Will Skelton hit Du Preez late and was sin-binned, while Du Preez kicked the resulting penalty to make it 7-6.
But Mark McCall's men continued to pile the pressure on the visitors despite being a man short and Tompkins released a back of the hand pass to send Lewington over in the corner, Spencer again converting.
Tompkins added a third try just minutes later, latching on to a kick through from returning winger Chris Wyles - back in a Saracens jersey despite retiring in May.
Spencer's conversion meant the home side added 14 points while down to 14 men but Sale got a try back just before the break, as South Africans Faf de Klerk and du Preez combined to release McGuigan out wide to score.
Du Preez took his tally to eight points with the conversion, making it 21-13 at the break.
Another penalty from Du Preez after 55 minutes closed the gap to five points and the South African fly-half added two more penalties in the next ten minutes to nudge Sale ahead 22-21.
A further penalty helped the visitors turn the screw, with the score 25-21 but Saracens roared back and retook the lead, with youngster Kpoku scoring from a driven line-out which went through the phases.
Spencer added the extras to make it 28-25 before du Preez pulled one wide towards the end in an effort to even the scores.
Spencer added another penalty at the end to make it 31-25.
Bath 30-13 Worcester
Bath secured their first win in two months but made hard work of it before finally seeing off Worcester 30-13 at the Rec.
The home side dominated possession and territory against opponents who were overpowered up front but they had to wait until Elliott Stooke's 77th-minute to put the result beyond doubt.
Stooke's score came after earlier tries by right wing Semesa Rokoduguni and flanker Tom Ellis, with fly-half Freddie Burns converting all three as well as kicking three penalties.
Worcester's points came from a superbly-worked try by centre Ryan Mills midway through the first half, with Duncan Weir's boot adding the rest.
The Warriors came into the game level on points with Bath but with a points difference margin of +63, which Weir soon improved with a fifth-minute penalty.
Burns quickly responded in kind from short range as the Bath front five set about imposing themselves at close quarters.
A succession of catch-and-drives from a reassuringly efficient home line-out built momentum before Rokoduguni came infield on Jamie Roberts' pass to take two defenders over the line for the game's first try after 19 minutes.
Burns converted for a 10-3 lead but Worcester struck back with a flowing try straight from a scrum, exploiting a recurring weakness in the Bath defence.
They were all too easily opened up by Chris Pennell's offload to Francois Venter and his centre partner Mills cut through on the right to touch down.
Weir converted but a rising penalty count knocked back the visitors again as Burns quickly replied with a 28th-minute kick from 35 metres.
For all Bath's possession and territory, Worcester were doing an effective job of slowing down their ball at the breakdown.
So the only further points in the first half came again from Burns' boot, courtesy of a penalty conceded at a scrum, and Bath led 16-10 at the break.
Francois Hougaard bumped Ellis into touch just short of the line soon after the restart but the Bath man was not denied for long.
Although Worcester won the line-out, the South African scrum-half's kick was charged down, appropriately enough, by the jubilant Ellis.
Although 23-10 adrift Worcester still looked the far more dangerous side with ball in hand.
However, their line-out continued to be liability and Bath replacement forward Levi Douglas was able to steal a throw with his first touch.
But the home team were also conceding penalties and Weir pulled back three points from 40 metres to make it 23-13 with still almost half-an-hour to go.
Bath's forward dominance was hardly checked by the arrival of further replacements and the pick-and-drive was still the tactic of choice, but without yielding any tries until the ball was finally worked wide and Stooke took a short pass to thunder over late on.
Northampton 36-17 Wasps
Wasps' miserable run of form continued as they crashed to another defeat after being beaten 36-17 by Northampton at Franklin's Gardens.
It was their seventh match without a win in all competitions - six defeats and a draw - and they looked a side short on confidence in the absence of many of their leading players.
Northampton did not need to be at their best to secure the win but still scored five tries through Andrew Kellaway, Ollie Sleightholme, Fraser Dingwall, Taqele Naiyaravoro and Piers Francis. James Grayson succeeded with two penalties with Francis kicking another penalty and a conversion.
Thomas Young and Josh Bassett scored Wasps' tries with Lima Sopoaga kicking a penalty and conversion. Billy Searle also added a conversion.
Wasps conceded a couple of early penalties for not releasing, which gave the hosts a platform in the opposition 22 from where they scored a sixth minute try.
Kellaway burst past two defenders to put the visitors' defence on the back foot before a well-judged cross-field kick from Grayson was collected by Kellaway to score.
Grayson made a hash of the conversion attempt but kicked a simple penalty to give his side an 8-0 lead at the end of an uneventful first quarter.
During that period, Wasps had more possession but inaccurate passing and frequent turnovers prevented them from getting onto the scoreboard.
In terms of errors, the home side were not much better but in Fijian wing Naiyaravoro, they possessed the game's major attacking weapon as he produced a number of powerful runs.
Wasps had their first chance for points but Sopoaga's 45-metre penalty attempt was nowhere near before their flanker Thomas Young was sin-binned for collapsing a driving maul.
Grayson kicked another simple penalty before straight from the restart, Saints scored their second try when Naiyaravoro burst past a couple of defenders to run 40 metres and give Dingwall an easy run-in.
Grayson's conversion attempt was again poor before Sopoaga kicked a penalty to leave Wasps trailing 16-3 at the interval.
Northampton prop Ben Franks was replaced for the second half by Karl Garside, who came on for his Premiership debut before Saints extended their lead with a try from Francis.
Young returned from the sin-bin at the same time as Wasps wing Marcus Watson departed with a leg injury, as the visitors' woes went from bad to worse.
Watson's replacement, Michael Le Bourgeois, raised their spirits with a neat break before Young crashed over from a driving line-out.
However Naiyaravoro continued to cause havoc and it was he who deservedly picked up the bonus point try after he had easily rounded Rob Miller.
Francis took over the kicking to miss the conversion but his late penalty and an excellent try from Premiership debutant, Sleightholme, emphasised Saints' superiority with Bassett's late try a mere consolation for dispirited Wasps.
Friday
Gloucester 36-13 Leicester
Gloucester moved up to third in the Premiership table with a convincing 36-13 win over Leicester at Kingsholm.
The Tigers had no answers to the hosts' pace and power as Gloucester scored five tries.
Ollie Thorley scored two superb ones with Matt Banahan, Jason Woodward and Fraser Balmain also crossing. Danny Cipriani added three conversions and a penalty with Billy Twelvetrees converting one.
Mike Williams scored Leicester's try with Joe Ford kicking the conversion and two penalties.
Alex Dombrandt and Francis Saili both crossed for tries as Harlequins claimed their third win of the Premiership season by seeing off bottom side Newcastle Falcons 20-7.
Flanker Dombrandt scored from an interception late in the first half in a game where defences came out on top, while Marcus Smith chipped in with two penalties and a conversion.
Replacement Saili finished off a Joe Marchant break midway through the second half, while Andrew Davidson scored the Falcons' only try minutes after.
Dean Richards' men have now lost six of seven matches in the Premiership this season, while Harlequins move above Leicester Tigers and into fifth.
Harlequins 20-7 Newcastle
Alex Dombrandt and Francis Saili both crossed for tries as Harlequins claimed their third win of the Premiership season by seeing off bottom side Newcastle Falcons 20-7.
Flanker Dombrandt scored from an interception late in the first half in a game where defences came out on top, while Marcus Smith chipped in with two penalties and a conversion.
Replacement Saili finished off a Joe Marchant break midway through the second half, while Andrew Davidson scored the Falcons' only try minutes after.
Dean Richards' men have now lost six of seven matches in the Premiership this season, while Harlequins move above Leicester Tigers and into fifth.
Newcastle had rediscovered their form during the European and Premiership Cup fixtures but they got off to a bad start at the Stoop, with fly-half Joel Hodgson carried off with an injury inside ten minutes.
Harlequins fly-half Smith got the first points of the night for the home side, kicking a simple penalty from close range.
However, they suffered problems at the set-piece and hooker Elia Elia was substituted before half-time after some wayward throws at the line-out, while the scrum proved to be a reliable source of penalties for the Falcons.
But the visitors also struggled to create going forwards and Toby Flood missed their best chance of points in the first half, leaving a penalty fractionally short.
They paid for it minutes later when flanker Dombrandt picked off a pass in midfield and scampered through unopposed to score under the posts, Smith adding the conversion for a 10-point half-time lead.
The Falcons increased the tempo after the break but Harlequins remained defensively vigilant and resilient, winning a crucial penalty inside their own 22 just as the Falcons were gaining a head of steam.
Smith was the next to score, booting his second penalty of the match through the posts from 30 metres out.
The Falcons continued to play with a high intensity but the home side were too efficient in defence and went on to score the second try which killed off the match.
Wing Nathan Earle and centre Marchant combined superbly down the left, with the latter sidestepping one tackle and bursting for the line.
He was tripped just short but popped up a pass to the supporting Saili and the centre touched down.
That woke the Falcons up and they responded immediately, with lock Davidson scampering through from close range for their first points of the match.
But they could not make further inroads and the hosts held on.
Sunday
Bristol 29-31 Exeter
Exeter maintained their unbeaten record in the Premiership with a last-minute penalty try as Bristol were cruelly denied 31-29 in a thrilling game at Ashton Gate.
The Chiefs threw 11 players into a five-metre line-out and when it was collapsed, the referee marched to the posts causing heartbreak for Bristol's players.
Despite Exeter outscoring them by five tries to two, Bristol were the better side as they hustled their rusty opponents with an all-action effort.
Charles Piutau and Luke Morahan scored tries for Bristol, with Callum Sheedy converting both and kicking five penalties.
Moray Low, Tom Lawday, Santiago Cordero and Jack Yeandle scored tries for Exeter before their penalty try award, with Gareth Steenson converting two.
Bristol took a fourth-minute lead with a penalty from Sheedy but the visitors soon replied with the first try of the game. A strong burst from number eight Lawday put the defence on the back foot before Low forced his way over from close range.
Steenson converted before Sheedy knocked over two penalties to give Bristol a deserved 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Exeter continued to infringe for Sheedy to succeed with a more difficult kick, a wide-angled shot from 45 metres, but the visitors were the more clinical in taking their chances and were rewarded with their second try.
From a line-out five metres out, the drive was halted but from the resulting ruck, Lawday saw a gap to ghost over and Exeter were level.
Three minutes before the interval, Bristol finally got the try their first-half efforts had deserved. Will Hurrell threatened with a couple of determined runs and when Exeter were penalised close to their line, Piutau caught them unawares by quickly taking a tap to force his way over.
Sheedy converted to give his side a 19-12 interval lead, which could easily have been greater had Bristol not missed a couple of clear-cut chances.
Soon after the restart, Bristol lost their captain Steven Luatua to a head injury assessment. He was replaced by George Smith but the blow did not stop the hosts' momentum as a neatly timed pass from John Afoa provided Morahan with an easy run-in.
Sheedy fired over an excellent touchline conversion but Exeter remained in contention at 26-19 when Cordero side-stepped two players to finish in style.
Sheedy lost his exemplary kicking record by hitting a post with a penalty attempt so Exeter went into the final quarter with a seven-point lead and the game in the balance.
Yeandle barged his way over for the bonus-point try and a fifth penalty from Sheedy looked to have secured a famous victory - until that collapsed maul sealed their fate.
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