Premiership wrap: Exeter win top of the table clash

Exeter Chiefs defeated rivals Saracens in the day’s big game, while there were also wins for Harlequins, Wasps and Leicester Tigers.

Exeter Chiefs 24-12 Saracens
Sandy Park

Exeter Chiefs secured a crucial victory by defeating Saracens 24-12 and moving seven points clear at the top.

Both sides have struggled to find their best recently, but Exeter played with far more confidence in the opening half-hour.

They controlled the game against a Sarries team that were without a number of players because of injuries and international call-ups, going 9-0 up via the accurate kicking of Joe Simmonds.

In typical Saracens style, however, the visitors displayed plenty of spirit and hit back through Ben Earl’s well-worked try. Phil Dollman and Marcelo Bosch then traded efforts as the hosts went into the break 14-12 up.

The encounter remained tight and the only score going into the last 15 minutes came through Simmonds’ fourth effort off the tee.

Exeter’s scrum was beginning to assert their authority, though, and following a succession of Sarries infringements, referee Matthew Carley awarded a penalty try to end the game as a contest.

The scorers:

For Exeter:
Tries: Dollman, penalty try
Pens: Simmonds 4

For Saracens:
Tries: Earl, Bosch
Con: Spencer

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Nic White, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Mitch Lees, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Stuart Townsend, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Ian Whitten

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 George Kruis, 4 Dominic Day, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Richard Barrington
Replacements: 16 Scott Spurling, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Max Malins, 23 Rotimi Segun

Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley, Paul Dix
TMO: Keith Lewis

Harlequins 20-5 Bath
Twickenham Stoop

Bath’s title ambitions suffered a blow after they succumbed to a 20-5 loss to Harlequins at the Stoop.

John Kingston’s men have endured a torrid season by their standards and they went into the game well off the top-six pace, but this was an improvement.

Facing a team searching for a place in the play-offs, the opening to the encounter appeared ominous when Matt Banahan charged across the whitewash.

The Londoners found their intensity, though, and proceeded to put the visitors under duress. Tim Visser rewarded their pressure by touching down before Demetri Catrakilis kicked a penalty as the hosts went into the interval 10-5 in front.

Harlequins maintained their dominance in the second period and, after Max Lahiff had been yellow carded, Kyle Sinckler extended their advantage.

Bath did create a couple of chances late in the encounter, but Quins’ rearguard remained resilient and Marcus Smith’s three-pointer eased them to a deserved triumph.

The scorers:

For Harlequins:
Tries: Visser, Sinckler
Cons: Catrakilis 2
Pens: Catrakilis, Smith

For Bath:
Try: Banahan
Yellow Card: Lahiff

Harlequins: 15 James Lang, 14 Alofa Alofa, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Demetri Catrakilis, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 James Chisholm, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Ben Glynn, 3 Will Collier, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Mark Lambert Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Cameron Holenstein, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Archie White, 21 Calum Waters, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Francis Saili

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aled Brew, 10 James Wilson, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Bayliss, 6 Zach Mercer, 5 Luke Charteris (c), 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 James Phillips, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Cooper Vuna

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Paul Burton
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Wasps 24-16 London Irish
Ricoh Arena

Wasps moved into second place after withstanding a spirited London Irish display to emerge 24-16 victorious at the Ricoh Arena.

Newcastle Falcons had sent Dai Young’s men down to fourth following Saturday’s win over Gloucester but this result, combined with Saracens’ loss, took the Midlanders into the top two.

To Irish’s credit, they were resilient throughout and did well after being reduced to 14 men early in the encounter because of David Paice’s yellow card.

Young’s side did benefit from the hooker’s absence by touching down through Tom Cruse, but they struggled to find their fluency.

It was not until early in the second period when they scored again as Dan Robson scampered across the whitewash.

Irish could have easily folded but they came back into the game as Tommy Bell kicked a penalty and Dave Porecki scored a try.

Cipriani and Bell then traded penalties to set up a tense final 13 minutes and the Exiles shocked the hosts when Petrus du Plessis went over.

It gave them a chance of a surprise win but Bell failed to kick the conversion and Wasps duly sealed the win through Cruse.

The scorers:

For Wasps:
Tries: Cruse 2, Robson
Cons: Cipriani 3
Pens: Cipriani

For London Irish:
Tries: Porecki, Du Plessis
Pens: Bell 2
Yellow Card: Paice

Wasps: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Brendan Macken, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Guy Thompson, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 James Gaskell (c), 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 TJ Harris, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Owain James

London Irish: 15 James Marshall, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Conor Gilsenan, 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 Jake Schatz, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Aseli Tikoirotuma

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, Nigel Carrick
TMO: David Rose

Worcester Warriors 5-34 Leicester Tigers
Sixways

Leicester Tigers’ improvement continued as they defeated Worcester Warriors 34-5 to move into fifth place in the Premiership table.

Following their impressive victory over Saracens last week, Matt O’Connor’s men made it successive away wins by comfortably beating their fellow Midlanders.

Worcester battled well in the first half and the match was level after half-an-hour as Jonah Holmes and Alafoti Fa’osiliva traded scores.

The Tigers managed to get on the front foot late in the first period and Greg Bateman touched down before Matt Toomua added a penalty in the second half.

Leicester then increased the tempo and intensity, sealing the victory via Telusa Veainu’s try 12 minutes from time.

Having touched down on three occasions, the visitors went in search of the bonus-point and they got it through Manu Tuilagi’s and Veainu’s late tries.

The scorers:

For Worcester:
Try: Fa’osiliva

For Leicester:
Tries: Holmes, Bateman, Veainu 2, Tuilagi
Cons: Toomua 3
Pen: Toomua

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 (c), 7 Alafoti Fa’osiliva, 6 David Denton, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Darren Barry, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Donncha O’Callaghan, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Will Butler, 23 Dean Hammond

Leicester: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Mathew Tait, 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 Nick Malouf

Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Simon McConnell
TMO: Geoff Warren