Wasps top, Leicester fourth, Quins clinch sixth

A busy final day in the Premiership saw Wasps finish top, with Leicester taking fourth place and Harlequins qualifying for Europe.

Results

Bristol 27-39 Newcastle
Gloucester 20-34 Exeter
Northampton 22-20 Harlequins
Sale 27-24 Bath
Wasps 35-15 Saracens
Worcester 23-28 Leicester

Semi-finals

Wasps v Leicester Tigers
Exeter Chiefs v Saracens

Qualified for Champions Cup: Bath, Harlequins

Qualified for Champions Cup 20th place play-offs: Northampton Saints

Bristol 27-39 Newcastle

Newcastle narrowly missed out on seventh place and a Champions Cup qualification play-off despite winning well at Bristol.

Mark Wilson’s early try was followed by Vereniki Goneva as Falcons dominated the opening exchanges for a 18-3 half-time lead.

Marcus Watson’s solo effort after the break stretched the gap, with Bristol hitting back through Jamal Ford-Robinson. Geneva grabbed a second, with Jack O’Connell getting a second for the hosts. It was Chris Harris who grabbed a fifth for Falcons, but Bristol’s season ended on a slight high when Jack Tovey and Mitch Eadiewent over late on. 

Already relegated Bristol had little to play for but pride in this end of season encounter, but they didn't start well at all. Inside five minutes, Falcons breached the defence and grabbed the first try of the day with Wilson getting through a gap and touching down. The conversion followed from Sonatane Takulua, and the lead was up to double figures with a three pointer from long range.

Bristol’s form had been horrible before this and a second try swiftly followed courtesy of Goneva. Again there was a gap in the hosts back line and the Falcons man spotted it, with a 15-0 lead built just after the 20 minute mark. Takalua didn't convert but added a further three as Falcons started to run away from the hosts with a speedy start. The hosts did manage to get something out of the half, with Gavin Henson’s penalty ensuring Newcastle went into half-time 18-3 to the good. 

Bristol’s miserable campaign was destined for a poor finish and Falcons continued their punishment in the second half with a third try coming from Watson. He evaded challenges from all angles to go through, but Bristol did have some consolation moments later. Ford-Robinson scored their first try on his final outing at Ashton Gate, but his try was sandwiched by Goneva.

The Newcastle man got his second after stealing possession and sprinting home from 70 metres, Takulua converting to make it 32-10. It was a high scoring final Premiership outing though and Bristol got a second try through O’Connell as he raced over to keep Bristol interested. But Harris got a fifth for Falcons after Goneva became the provider, the conversion putting Falcons 39-17 to the good.

But Bristol gave it a good go late on and Tovey snatched a third try as the clock ran down, collecting Tusi Pisi’s kick and going in under the posts. Mitch Eadie finished the campaign with a fourth try to make the scoreline a little more handsome.

The ccorers:

For Bristol:

Tries: Ford-Robinson, O’Connell, Tovey, Eadie
Cons: Woodward 2
Pens: Henson

For Newcastle:
Tries: Wilson, Geneva 2, Watson, Harris
Cons: Takulua 4
Pens: Takulua 2

Bristol: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Ryan Edwards, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Jack Tovey, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Alby Mathewson, 8 Mitch Eadie, 7 Olly Robinson, 6 Sam Jeffries, 5 Mark Sorenson, 4 James Phillips, 3 Gaston Cortes, 2 Marc Jones (c), 1 Jack O’Connell
Replacements: 16 Max Crumpton, 17 Ollie Dawe, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Ben Glynn, 20 Nick Fenton-Wells, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Tusi Pisi, 23 Siale Piutau

Newcastle: 15 Marcus Watson, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Sean Robinson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Will Witty, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Sam Egerton, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Alex Tait

Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Andrew Pearce
TMO: Trevor Fisher

Gloucester 20-34 Exeter

Exeter momentarily moved into first place in the Premiership table after coming from behind to win at Kingsholm.

Lewis Ludlow’s try inside 10 minutes was followed up by Jonny May as Gloucester started well, but Ian Whitton reduced the lead to two points as Gloucester took a narrow lead into the second half. 

Tries from Ben Moon and James Short put Chiefs into the ascendancy after the break though, with May grabbing his second to keep Gloucester in the tie. Will Chudley sealed the home semi-final though with a late try.

Challenge Cup finalists Gloucester had two chances to qualify for Europe again next season, with a victory today enough to see them over the line. And they set off on the right foot with an eighth minute try. Jonny May made the break down the left and sent a pass inside to Ludlow who found his way over. Greig Laidlaw added the extras, and he kicked another three after Gareth Steenson had cut the gap with Exeter’s first points of the afternoon. 

The Chiefs’ kicker was in good form and a second penalty reduced the gap down to three points. But Steenson’s good work was undone when his pass was picked off by May for the second Gloucester try. He stole possession and sailed through for a 15-6 advantage. But Exeter fired back through Whitten, who cut down the lead with the first try for the visitors. Steenson’s two made it a two point gap as Gloucester went into the break with a 15-13 lead. 

Gloucester thought their lead had been extended when May went through, but play was brought back for a knock on and it was Chiefs who got the next two tries. Their second came from Moon who had enough space to nip inside the corner to take the lead, Steenson converting. And that was followed a few minutes later by Short, who had the knowhow to go in on the left, the conversion following again for a 15-27 lead. 

But the ever dangerous May cut that advantage down as he ghosted past the challenge of Jack Nowell to find the line. It was a high scoring finale though and Chiefs kept a sizeable gap thanks to Will Chudley, going under the posts from a metre, Steenson converting for a 14-point breathing space and sealing a home semi.

The scorers:

For Gloucester:
Tries: Ludlow, May 2
Con: Laidlaw
Pen: Laidlaw

For Exeter:
Tries: Whitten, Moon, Short, Chudley
Cons: Steenson 4
Pens: Steenson 2

Gloucester: 15 James Hook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Jonny May, 10 Billy Twelvetrees, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Freddie Clarke, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Josh Hohneck, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Ollie Thorley, 23 Henry Trinder

Exeter: 15 Jack Nowell, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson (c), 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill

Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Jack Makepeace, Phil Watters
TMO: Geoffrey Warren

Northampton 22-20 Harlequins

Harlequins finished in sixth place and secured Champions Cup rugby for next season despite losing at Franklin's Gardens, with both teams finishing on 62 points but Quins taking the higher position by virtue of having won more matches this season.

James Horwill’s third-minute try was countered by George North and Alex Waller. A late Joe Marchant try put Quins ahead before Harry Mallinder’s kick made it 17-17 on half-time. Api Rutaniyawara then gave Saints the lead with 10 minutes remaining before they clung on.

In the battle for the final automatic Champions Cup spot, Harlequins struck first blood only three minutes into proceedings. They started much the better and wasted no time at all in sending Horwill over, with Nick Evans kicking the two. And he followed that with a further three points as the hosts failed to get to grips early on.

They fought back well though and grabbed their first try thanks to North. Harry Mallinder set him up with a neat offload and he finished it with the conversion as the gap was cut back down to three. And Saints stole the lead for the first time in the match as Waller grabbed the third try of the first 25 minutes.

Louis Picamoles emerged from the lineout and sent a pass into the arms of Saints loosehead, with Mallinder again making no mistake for a 14-10 lead. Evans wasn't in the best of form for Quins and squandered a second penalty on the half hour. 

But they had the final say in the half as Horwill’s early try was followed by Marchant. He profited from Mike Brown’s bulldoze through the Saints lineout, racing through and letting Evans get the two. But a Mallinder penalty made it 17 apiece at the break. 

Evans kicked Quins back into a slender lead 10 minutes after the restart as neither side was able to truly break away from the other. And Saints were given a big opportunity when Quins lost Charlie Matthews to a yellow card, shown for a deliberate knock on. And they lost Kyle Sinckler soon after too, sin binned for what appeared to be arguing with the official. 

And with the extra man, Saints retook the lead thanks to Ratuniyawara. He was the man to get the touch after pushing Quits back, but Mallinder couldn't make it a four point lead as his kick struck the sticks. And that was how it ended, with Saints unable to get the extra points needed to place them above Quins. 

The scorers:

For Northampton:
Tries: North, Waller, Ratuniyawara
Cons: Mallinder 2
Pen: Mallinder

For Harlequins:
Tries: Horwill, Marchant
Cons: Evans 2
Pens: Evans 2
Yellow Cards: Matthews, Sinckler

Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 George North, 13 Nafi Tuitavake, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Ben Foden, 10 Harry Mallinder, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Tom Wood (c), 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 David Ribbans, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Rory Hutchinson

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Rob Buchanan, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 George Merrick, 20 Dave Ward, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Alofa Alofa

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Peter Allan
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Sale 27-24 Bath

Bath missed out on the top four but will be playing Champions Cup rugby next season after finishing fifth despite losing at Sale.

Sale struck first through an AJ MacGinty penalty but the first try was Bath's, centre Max Clark going over and converted by Rhys Priestland. This was all while Bath were down to 14 men after a yellow card for prop Shaun Knight.

A second strike from MacGinty closed the gap before Sale went ahead thanks to another Denny Solomona try, 13-7 becoming 13-10 after Priestland knocked over a penalty. 

And then right before the interval Sale extended their lead through a Ben Curry try, after good work from Josh Charnley, and by the time the ex-League man had scored himself on 50 minutes, stepping inside to finish, Sale were cruising ahead 27-10.

Bath hit back through a penalty try and then another score from Matt Banahan, bringing the game back to life when the result had looked settled.

In the end despite a few nervous moments Sale clung on, with Bath's season coming to an end earlier than they would have hoped.

The scorers:

For Sale:
Tries: Solomona, B Curry, Charnley
Cons: MacGinty 2
Pens: MacGinty 2

For Bath:
Tries: Clark, Penalty Try, Banahan
Cons: Priestland 3
Pen: Priestland

Sale: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Josh Beaumont (c), 7 Tom Curry, 6 Ben Curry, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Ross Harrison, 2 Rob Webber, 1 James Flynn
Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 Jake Pope, 18 Diogo Ferreira, 19 George Nott, 20 Magnus Lund, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Mark Jennings, 23 Josh Charnley

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Max Clark, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Rhys Priestland (cc), 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Francois Louw (cc), 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Chris Brooker, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Paul Grant, 21 Chris Cook, 22 George Ford, 23 Robbie Fruean

Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant Referees: Tim Wigglesworth, Andrew Jackson
TMO: Graham Hughes

Wasps 35-15 Saracens

Wasps finished top of the regular season for the first time thanks to Elliot Daly's bonus-point try, getting the better of a weakened Saracens side in Coventry.

Kick-off was initially delayed by 15 minutes and it took another 15 minutes into the match for the first points, Jimmy Gopperth knocking over a penalty for a brief lead.

Brief due to Ben Spencer pouncing for Saracens, sniping through a gap with no one behind to finish by the posts. Wasps responded quickly through Thomas Young, after Elliot Daly's break.

And the son of Wasps' boss Dai Young was at it again right before the break for his second try, Gopperth unable to convert as Wasps led 16-10 at the break, with Saracens down to 14 men after Sean Maitland had been sin-binned for obstruction.

Christian Wade then made history by tying the record for the most tries in a Premiership season with his 17th, a bizarre effort after the ball pinballed perfectly into his waiting hands on the try line, not that he or Wasps will care. Gopperth's conversion made it 23-10.

Saracens responded with a second for Spencer after 20 phases and Wasps still needed that fourth try and bonus point to leapfrog Exeter at the top, by virtue of having won more matches this season with the two teams tied on 84 points.

They got it through Daly, who showed his speed down the touchline, before Young completed his hat-trick to put the icing on the cake as he was rightly named Man of the Match.

The scorers:

For Wasps:
Tries: Young 3, Wade, Daly
Cons: Gopperth 2
Pens: Gopperth 3

For Saracens:
Tries: Spencer 2
Cons: Lozowski 2
Pen: Bosch
Yellow Card: Maitland 

Wasps: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Willie Le Roux, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Haskell, 5 Matt Symons, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Matt Mullan
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Alapati Leiua

Saracens: 15 Chris Wyles, 14 Mike Ellery, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 George Kruis, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Schalk Brits (c), 1 Titi Lamositle
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Henry Taylor, 22 Alex Goode, 23 Nathan Earle

Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Roger Baileff, Nigel Carrick
TMO: David Sainsbury

Worcester 23-28 Leicester

Leicester Tigers are through to the Premiership semi-finals after a commanding performance from Freddie Burns, who scored 23 points against Worcester.

Worcester's Ryan Mills and Leicester's Freddie Burns traded early penalties before Leicester's maul led to a try for Tom Youngs, with Burns knocking over the conversion to make it 13-3.

Chris Pennell hit back for Worcester after a break down the left, converted by Mills, but a third Burns penalty helped Leicester's cause, Mills responding in kind to make it 13-16 at the break.

Sixways then roared into life at the start of the second half when Bryce Heem showed his speed to go over. Burns however was keeping Leicester in control, a drop goal restoring the lead and then two penalties pushing Leicester out to 25-16 ahead.

Wynand Olivier's try helped close the gap only for Burns to extend it again with his sixth three-pointer and that proved to be enough for Leicester to hold on for the win, confirming their spot in the top four.

The scorers:

For Worcester:
Tries: Pennell, Heem, Olivier
Con: Mills
Pens: Mills 2

For Leicester:
Try: T Youngs
Con: Burns
Pen: Burns 6
Drop Goal: Burns

Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Perry Humphreys, 10 Ryan Mills, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Marco Mama, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c), 3 Gareth Milasinovich, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 1 Ryan Bower
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 James Johnston, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Cooper Vuna

Leicester: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Jack Roberts, 12 Owen Williams, 11 Peter Betham, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Luke Hamilton, 7 Brendon O'Connor, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Greg Bateman, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Mike Fitzgerald, 20 Harry Thacker, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Matt Smith, 23 George Worth

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Simon McConnell, Paul Dix
TMO: Sean Davey