A high-scoring Saturday in the Premiership saw Saracens and Exeter Chiefs consolidate their position as the two early favourites for the title, with Northampton and Harlequins also claiming wins.
Bristol 40-45 Northampton Saints
Ashton Gate
Northampton edged Bristol 45-40 in a hard-fought encounter at Ashton Gate, putting some breathing space between themselves and the foot of the table.
After Saints had taken an early lead through a Dan Biggar penalty, Bristol came straight back at them from the restart and scored the first try of the game through Will Hurrell, who powered over from close range six minutes in.
Luther Burrell thought he had scored shortly afterwards at the other end, but the try was disallowed for a forward pass from Cobus Reinach in the build-up. However, Ehren Painter finally got them over the chalk from close range in the 14th minute, with Northampton’s decision not to go for posts from a penalty vindicated.
Andrew Kellaway gave Saints some breathing space in the 21st minute, beating a defender and going over in the corner.
A Callum Sheedy penalty put Bristol back within striking distance, but they were dealt a blow 27 minutes in when Jack Lam was yellow-carded for collapsing the maul close to the try-line.
Nevertheless, it was the Bears who struck next, with Harry Thacker going over from around 40 metres out following a lineout move.
However, Saints had the last laugh before half-time in terms of tries, as Lewis Ludlam danced past George Smith to go in under the posts. The score at the break was 24-20 in favour of the visitors.
Taqele Naiyaravoro extended their advantage just three minutes after half-time, scoring Northampton’s fourth try. However, Luke Morahan hit back four minutes later with Bristol’s third.
Sheedy’s penalty made it a one-point ball game, but then Alex Waller scored a try to give Saints some breathing space. Shortly after Biggar’s 60th minute conversion, Mike Haywood scored Northampton’s sixth five-pointer of the game.
The closing stages of the game saw a valiant fightback from the Bears, with Hurrell and Alapati Leiua scoring unconverted tries. However, Northampton ultimately came away with a hard-earned win.
The scorers:
For Bristol:
Tries: Hurrell 2, Thacker, Morahan, Leiua
Cons: Sheedy 3
Pens: Sheedy 3
Yellow Card: Lam
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Painter, Kellaway, Ludlam, Naiyaravoro, Waller, Haywood
Cons: Biggar 5, Mallinder
Pen: Biggar
Bristol: 15 Piers O’Conor, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Jack Lam, 7 George Smith, 6 Steve Luatua (c), 5 Joe Latta, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Nick Fenton-Wells, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jake Armstrong, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 Nick Haining, 21 Nic Stirzaker, 22 Tusi Pisi, 23 Zane Kirchner
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Dylan Hartley (cc), 1 Alex Waller (cc)
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Francois Van Wyk, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Mitch Eadie, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Andrew Kellaway 23 Harry Mallinder
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Dean Richards Jonathan Healy
Television match official: Trevor Fisher
Exeter Chiefs 28-11 Worcester Warriors
Sandy Park
Although far from spectacular, Exeter Chiefs did what they needed to in order to see off Worcester Warriors, scoring four tries in a 28-11 victory.
Exeter headed into the game in fine form, and after a slow start to the game and a Worcester penalty to put them on the back foot, they showed why they are among the favourites for the title with three converted tries late in the first half.
Jack Yeandle went over for the first of the game in the 25th minute from a maul. Then, Dave Ewers scored two before the half-time – one from a tap penalty and another from a pick-and-go. At the break, Chiefs led 21-3.
However, Warriors did well to fight their way back into the game, closing the gap first through a penalty and then a 51st minute Ted Hill try following a sustained spell of pressure.
Despite their valiant effort, the wheels came off for Worcester towards the end of the second half, as they saw Ryan Bower sent to the sin-bin for 10 minutes as a result of persistent infringements from his team. In case Chiefs’ victory was in any doubt by this stage, Harry Williams capped it off with a 73rd minute try to seal the bonus point.
The scorers:
For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Yeandle, Ewers 2, Williams
Cons: Steenson 4
For Worcester Warriors:
Try: Hill
Pens: Pennell 2
Yellow Card: Bower
Exeter: 15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Sean Lonsdale, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jono Lance, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (c), 7 Marco Mama, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Gareth Milasinovich, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Ollie Lawrence
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Matthew O’Grady, Robert Warburton
Television match official: Claire Hodnett
Gloucester 25-27 Harlequins
Kingsholm
Harlequins snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, seeing off Gloucester 27-25 in a nail-biting encounter.
A tightly-fought first half saw two tries apiece, with Danny Cipriani and Charlie Sharples scoring either side of a brace from Nathan Earle.
Another major talking point was a yellow card to Matt Symons late in the first half, which was given for an offside with Gloucester on the attack.
Johan Ackermann’s side took an 18-15 lead into half-time, but three Quins penalties then put them on the back foot.
However, Sharples had his second try in the 68th minute following some wonderful hands from Gloucester, with Matt Banahan offloading to Tom Hudson, who set him up for the finish.
There was to be one last twist, however, as a 79th minute Marcus Smith penalty gave Harlequins their second win of the season.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Cipriani, Sharples 2
Cons: Cipriani 2
Pens: Cipriani 2
For Harlequins:
Tries: Earle 2
Con: Lang
Pens: Lang 2, Smith 3
Yellow Card: Symons
Gloucester: 15 Tom Hudson, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Ed Slater (c), 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 James Hanson, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Franco Marais, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Jason Woodward
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Tim Visser, 10 James Lang, 9 Danny Care, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Chris Robshaw (cc), 6 Renaldo Bothma, 5 James Horwill (cc), 4 Matt Symons, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Max Crumpton, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Will Collier, 19 Stan South, 20 Semi Kunatani, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Aaron Morris
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Steve Lee, Simon McConnell
Television match official: Keith Lewis
Saracens 50-27 Bath
Allianz Park
Saracens continued their fine form as they beat Bath 50-27 in a fast-paced encounter.
The defending champions headed into the game on a roll, with 20 points from their opening four matches. Despite falling behind to a Rhys Priestland penalty early on, it didn’t take long for them to show their class.
A fantastic 12th minute try from Liam Williams was followed by another from Alex Goode just three minutes later. After another three-pointer from Priestland, Jamie George scored Saracens’ third.
The half finished in frantic fashion, as Chris Cook and Tom Homer were able to score tries either side of the hosts’ fourth, which came through Nick Tompkins.
The score at half-time was 26-20 to the champions, but they wasted no time after the game restarted, with Williams scoring his second try of the game a minute into the second half before completing the hat-trick 11 minutes later.
Homer hit back with his second try just past the 60-minute mark, but Saracens were far from done, as Sean Maitland and Christopher Tolofua added yet more five-pointers to their total, with the final conversion from Owen Farrell bringing up 50 points.
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Williams 3, Goode, George, Tompkins, Maitland, Tolofua
Cons: Farrell 5
For Bath:
Tries: Cook, Homer 2
Cons: Priestland 2, Burns
Pens: Priestland 2
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Alex Lewington
Bath: 15 Darren Atkins, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Clark, 12 Max Wright, 11 Tom Homer, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Paul Grant, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Charlie Ewels (c), 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Jacques van Rooyen
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Victor Delmas, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Max Green, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Jackson Willison
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Roy Maybank, Anthony Woodthorpe
Television match official: Geoffrey Warren