Leicester, Northampton and Worcester win

Editor

There were three home wins in the Premiership on Saturday as Leicester, Northampton and Worcester all secured crucial victories.

Leicester Tigers 33-18 Harlequins

Matt Toomua was the star as Leicester Tigers kept their Premiership play-off hopes alive with a 33-18 triumph over Harlequins.

Both these sides have struggled for form in the Premiership recently and that was evident in the first half performances.

To the visitors’ credit, they started the game brightly and scored a fine try when Aaron Morris sent Alofa Alofa clear to touch down.

Leicester hit back, however, and pressurised the opposition 22 but they lacked creativity and the hosts had to make do with a pair of Toomua penalties.

Marcus Smith responded with a three-pointer of his own but the fly-half was yellow carded for being offside and Toomua regained the Tigers’ advantage at the break.

Despite being a man short, the Londoners began the second 40 minutes on the front foot and were rewarded by Luke Wallace’s effort.

That score almost revitalised the hosts and two quick-fire tries moved Matt O’Connor’s men clear when Toomua and Graham Kitchener crossed the whitewash.

Quins responded via Charlie Matthews but Adam Thompstone confirmed the win after intercepting a stray pass in the final minute.

The scorers:

For Leicester:
Tries: Toomua, Kitchener, Thompstone
Cons: Toomua 3
Pens: Toomua 4

For Harlequins:
Tries: Alofa, Wallace, Matthews
Pen: Smith
Yellow Card: Smith

Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Gareth Owen, 11 Jonah Holmes, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Harry Simmons, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mathew Tait

Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Alofa Alofa, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jonno Kitto, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Dave Ward (c), 6 Luke Wallace, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 Stan South, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Lewis Boyce
Replacements: 16 Charlie Piper, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Archie White, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 James Lang, 23 Gabriel Ibitoye

Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce, Hamish Smales
TMO: David Grashoff

Northampton Saints 25-17 London Irish

Northampton launched a superb second half fightback to claim a hard-fought 25-17 win over London Irish at Franklin's Gardens.

In a tight encounter between two of the Premiership's also rans, Northampton outscored the Exiles three tries to two although the visitors dominated the early exchanges and held a deserved 14-3 lead at half-time.

Irish made a superb start and took the lead in the sixth minute courtesy of an Alex Lewington try. Lewington initially hacked the ball ahead and regathered before crossing the whitewash.

Greig Tonks added the extras but there was more joy for the visitors, and Lewington in particular, in the 25th minute when he pounced on a grubber kick from Tonks and beat George North in a footrace before diving onto the ball behind Saints' try-line.

Tonks converted again before Piers Francis opened the home side's account via a penalty in the 28th minute.

The home side made a superb start after the interval and a minute into the half, North crossed for their opening try after initially doing well to regather the ball from the kick-off.

Francis slotted the conversion attempt, which narrowed the gap to four points, and five minutes later Saints took the lead for the first time when Rob Horne went over for their second try.

With their tails up, Northampton continued to dominate and in the 50th minute, they were rewarded again when Mikey Haywood scored off the back of a driving maul deep inside the Exiles' half.

With the score now 22-17 to the hosts, the rest of the half was an arm wrestle and Saints eventually secured the result when Francis landed a drop goal in the 72nd minute.

The scorers:

For Northampton Saints:
Tries: North, Horne, Haywood
Cons: Francis 2
Pen: Francis
Drop goal: Francis

For London Irish:
Tries: Lewington 2
Cons: Tonks 2
Pen: Tonks

Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 George North, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Heinrich Brüssow, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day (c), 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Campese Ma’afu
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Nafi Tuitavake

London Irish: 15 James Marshall, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Max Northcote-Green, 6 Arno Botha, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 4 Franco van der Merwe (c), 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 David Paice, 1 Ben Franks
Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Conor Gilsenan, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma

Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Brian Campsall, Simon Harding
TMO: Trevor Fisher

Worcester Warriors 25-15 Gloucester

Worcester Warriors produced another impressive display to defeat Gloucester and go further clear of basement-dwellers London Irish.

Alan Solomons’ men may have struggled for most of this season, but they have gradually improved over the last few Premiership rounds and the previous week has shown why.

Following their superb triumph over defending champions Exeter Chiefs, the Midlanders defeated another play-off challenger.

They began quickly and were 14-3 up in the opening 10 minutes through Jonny Arr and Jamie Shillcock. Although Matt Scott responded for the Cherry and Whites – adding to Billy Twelvetrees’ earlier penalty – Worcester led 19-10 through Josh Adams.

Chris Pennell then kicked a penalty as they ended the half 12 points in front, but the hosts were on the back foot at the start of the second period.

Gloucester began to play some good rugby and Henry Trinder made up for his indiscretion in the first half – where he was yellow carded – to get Johan Ackermann’s team back into the contest.

The Warriors regained their composure, though, and Pennell kicked them two scores ahead to complete the win.

The scorers:

For Worcester:
Tries: Arr, Shillcock, Adams
Cons: Pennell 2
Pens: Pennell 2

For Gloucester:
Tries: Scott, Trinder
Cons: Burns
Pens: Twelvetrees
Yellow Card: Trinder

Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 David Denton, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c), 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Anton Bresler, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Alafoti Faosiliva, 22 Luke Baldwin, 23 Dean Hammond

Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Tom Marshall, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Henry Trinder, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Ben Vellacott, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Mariano Galarza; 4 Tom Savage (c), 3 John Afoa, 2 James Hanson, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Cameron Orr, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Freddie Clarke, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Mark Atkinson

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Nigel Yates, Jack Makepeace
TMO: Geoff Warren