Wins for Exeter, Leicester and Bath

Exeter Chiefs, Leicester and Bath secured wins over Harlequins, Sale and London Irish respectively in Round Nine of Premiership action on Sunday.

Sunday

Exeter Chiefs 31-17 Harlequins
Leicester Tigers 35-27 Sale Sharks
London Irish 18-22 Bath

Exeter Chiefs 31-17 Harlequins
Sandy Park, Exeter

Jonny Hill touched down twice as Exeter Chiefs moved to the top of the Premiership after overcoming Harlequins 31-17.

John Kingston’s men have failed to find the required consistency this season but, despite being shorn of several internationals, they gave an excellent account of themselves at Sandy Park.

The Chiefs displayed their class early on by taking a 7-0 lead when Phil Dollman’s scything break was finished off by Lachie Turner.

However, the visitors battled throughout and were back on level terms via the impressive James Chisholm, who scampered clear and crossed the whitewash.

Exeter reasserted their authority through Olly Woodburn’s excellent try but a mistake in backfield was pounced upon by Tim Visser and the sides were once again level.

Marcus Smith then took Quins in front just shy of the interval following an infringement before the hosts regained their advantage in the second period as Hill touched down.

Kingston’s team pushed for the next 20 minutes but it was the Chiefs that secured the win when Hill went over and Gareth Steenson kicked a penalty.

The scorers:

For Exeter:
Tries: Turner, Woodburn, Hill 2
Cons: Steenson 4
Pen: Steenson

For Harlequins:
Tries: J. Chisholm, Visser
Cons: Smith 2
Pens: Smith

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Nic White, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Don Armand, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Moray Low, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Ben Moon. 
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Toby Salmon, 20 Sam Skinner, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill.

Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Alofa Alofa, 13 Harry Sloan, 12 James Lang, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jono Kitto, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 James Chisholm, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Will Collier, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Piper, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 George Merrick, 20 Ben Glynn, 21 Ian Prior, 22 Gabriel Ibitoye, 23 Charlie Walker.

Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Leicester Tigers 35-27 Sale Sharks
Welford Road, Leicester

Marland Yarde scored on his Sale debut – and was also yellow carded – but it was Leicester Tigers that went away with the win, defeating the Sharks 35-27.

Steve Diamond’s men have been atrocious on the road over the past two seasons but they were much improved against the Tigers.

It proved to be a thrilling opening 40 minutes and, after Telusa Veainu had been sin-binned, Faf de Klerk put Sale in front.

Joe Ford levelled matters but a brilliant Mike Haley chip through sent Ben Curry across the whitewash. Curry then turned from hero to villain as he illegally halted a Leicester drive and referee Luke Pearce had little option other than to award a penalty try.

Ford extended the hosts’ buffer but, unperturbed, the Sharks got themselves back ahead as Sam James fed Mark Jennings, who touched down from close range.

James was to get his second assist later on when he gave Yarde a simple run to the line, but before that Ellis Genge powered over.

Matt O’Connor’s team duly went into the break two points in arrears, but Ford’s three-pointer re-established their lead.

Sale refused to go away, however, and in a see-saw encounter Jono Ross crossed the whitewash.

Leicester were under pressure going into the final 20 minutes but they lifted the intensity and Gareth Owen and Nick Malouf secured the victory.

The scorers:

For Leicester:
Tries: Penalty try, Genge, Owen, Malouf
Cons: Ford 2
Pens: Ford 3
Yellow Card: Veainu

For Sale:
Tries: Curry, Jennings, Yarde, Ross
Cons: de Klerk 2
Pen: de Klerk
Yellow Card: Curry, Yarde

Leicester: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Nick Malouf, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Gareth Owen, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Joe Ford, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Valentino Mapapalangi, 7 Will Evans, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Greg Bateman, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Ellis Genge.        
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Chris Baumann, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Brendon O’Connor, 21 Harry Simmons, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Jonah Holmes.

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Mark Jennings, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Faf De Klerk, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Andre Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 James Flynn, 18 Alexandru Tarus, 19 George Nott, 20 Sam Moore, 21 Cameron Neild, 22 Will Cliff, 23 Josh Charnley.

Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Nigel Carrick
TMO: Sean Davey

London Irish 18-22 Bath
Madejski Stadium, Reading

Fly-half Freddie Burns was the star as London Irish’s miserable run of form in the Premiership continued following a 22-18 loss to Bath.

Following an impressive opening day victory over Harlequins, the Exiles have struggled to replicate that performance and they were under pressure early on.

Although Tommy Bell opened the scoring for Nick Kennedy’s men, the visitors hit back and were 10-3 up after 13 minutes through Matt Banahan’s try and Burns’ penalty.

Irish reduced the arrears via James Marshall’s score but Todd Blackadder’s side controlled the opening period and Burns put them 16-8 in front.

Bell kept the hosts in contention at the interval from the tee before Bath regained their eight-point buffer via the boot of their fly-half.

Burns then scored his fifth penalty to secure the win, despite Scott Steele’s try giving the Exiles a losing bonus-point.

The scorers:

For Irish:
Tries: Marshall, Steele 
Con: Tonks
Pen: Bell 2

For Bath:
Try: Banahan
Con: Burns
Pens: Burns 4
Drop-goal: Burns

London Irish: 15 James Marshall, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Tommy Bell, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Blair Cowan, 7 Conor Gilsenan, 6 Max Northcote-Green, 5 Sebastian De Chaves, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 David Paice (c), 1 Ben Franks.
Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Will Lloyd, 20 Mike Coman, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Tom Fowlie.

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Jack Wilson, 13 James Wilson, 12 Matt Banahan, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Paul Grant, 7 Zach Mercer, 6 Matt Garvey (c), 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Darren Atkins.

Referee: Thomas Foley
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Wayne Falla
TMO: Keith Lewis