Itoje helps Sarries remain on top

Rhys Priestland had scored two penalties and converted an early Tom Homer try at the break, but the hosts proceeded to chip away at their 13-point lead after the interval. Charlie Hodgson struck twice from the tee before coming up inches short of crossing the whitewash but the ferocious Bath defence was eventually undone by Itoje.

The 21-year-old lock, sent back to Saracens by England coach Eddie Jones last week, powered deep into Bath territory before Schalk Brits crossed and Hodgson converted to level the scores. Former England flyhalf Hodgson struck a further two penalties, the first after smart work from Itoje at the breakdown, condemning Bath to a sixth league defeat in nine games.

*Nev Edwards continued his run of try-scoring form with a double at the AJ Bell Stadium as Sale Sharks eased past London Irish. Sale, beaten just once on home soil in the league in the last 12 months, held a slender lead at the break after an Exiles penalty try followed scores for Brian Mujati and TJ Ioane.

Sam James got the second half off to a flying start with the home side's third try before Edwards crossed over twice in the space of seven minutes. Sam Tuitupou rubbed some salt into the Exiles' wounds with a sixth try 10 minutes from time.

*Tommy Bell's last-gasp conversion of Logovi'i Mulipola's try gave Leicester Tigers a dramatic victory over Gloucester Rugby at Kingsholm. Freddie Burns' struggles from the kicking tee appeared to have cost the Tigers the game against his former club.

But with Ben Morgan in the sin bin, the Tigers made their man advantage count late on as the impressive Mathew Tait got free and fed Mulipola. That was the Tigers' third try of the match but they still needed Bell, who took over the kicking duties following the withdrawal of Burns, to hold his nerve.

Earlier two quick fire Gloucester tries from James Hook and Morgan looked to have been enough for the home side but the Tigers came back through Marcos Ayerza and Telusa Veainu scores. In the final moments, it was Mulipola who ended Gloucester unbeaten home run and keep the Tigers third on the table.

All Saturday's scores and scorers!

Sale Sharks 38-10 London Irish

Irish – began in determined fashion and, after a sustained period of pressure, were awarded a penalty, which Shane Geraghty converted. Sale hit back immediately, with first Will Addison and then Danny Cipriani charging towards the line before prop Mujati eventually went over.

Midway through the half, after a spell of sustained pressure, TJ Ioane eventually squeezed the ball over the line to give the Sharks a nine-point advantage. With the wind and the hail whipping across the ground, London Irish had the better of a scrappy middle period to the half but Geraghty couldn't quite marshal the conditions to secure a further three points.

Their luck didn't get much better when Will Lloyd thought he had brought his side back into it, charging through to slide over the line, only for the TMO to disallow the try for a knock-on. With the away side firmly in the ascendancy, Cipriani spilled a simple pass in a dangerous position, gifting London Irish a scrum that was the first of many.

They got their rewards for a spirited fightback when the referee awarded a penalty try following a long spell camped on the Sale line. Sale resumed after half-time with far greater determination, and restored their nine-point lead when James went over following some attractive rugby, and Cipriani converted.

With neither side taking a firm grip on second-half proceedings, Sale were content to pin their opponents back inside their own 22, a tactic that paid dividends when they secured the ball in a dangerous position.

A beautifully flowing move, out of keeping with the beginning of the half, resulted in the Sharks securing a bonus point through Edwards, who danced down the line to score. Edwards went over again with 19 minutes to go, finding himself in acres of space on the wing and collecting the pass following a break from James.

With the Exiles struggling to contain the rampant hosts, Tuitupou secured another try, going over after a driving maul with 10 minutes to go. London Irish thought they had at least reduced the deficit with six minutes to go but, after consultation with the TMO, the try – secured by a rolling maul – was ruled out.

Scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: Mujati, Ioane, James, Edwards 2, Tuitupou

Cons: Cipriani 3, Ford

For London Irish:

Try: Penalty try

Con: Geraghty

Pen: Geraghty

Teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14  Will Addison, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Nev Edwards, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Josh Beaumont 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 TJ Ioane, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.

Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Vadim Cobilas, 19 Jonathan Mills, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Tom Arscott.

London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Luke Narraway 7 Conor Gilsenan, 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Will Lloyd, 4 Matt Symons (captain), 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.

Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Johnny Harris, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Rob McCusker, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Andrew Fenby.

Referee: Gregory Garner

Gloucester 18-19 Leicester Tigers

Burns went from zero to hero and back to zero all in the space of the first half at Kingsholm as the Tigers struggled to gain momentum against their hosts. After a bright start, the flyhalf tugged a very kickable penalty and around the quarter-hour mark the hosts found their form.

First Hook stepped his way over from close range after the Cherry & Whites had twice been held up over the line. Hook added the conversion and then saw his opposite man Burns' day get worse still – the Tigers flyhalf colliding with Veainu from the restart – spilling the loose ball and releasing Gloucester again.

Moments later, the Cherry & Whites had their second score, Hook's miss pass out to the left released David Halaifonua and his ball back inside put Morgan over in the corner. Hook hit the post with the extras but at 12-0, the home side were threatening to break the game open until Burns finally found his form.

His delightful chip and chase pushed the Tigers deep into Gloucester territory and after Tom Croft was dragged down just short, it was Ayerza who barged over for his first Premiership try since 2011.

Burns added the tricky conversion, making it 12-7 at the half-hour mark but inconsistency continued to plague his game. Before the interval, he missed another relatively simple penalty and at the other end, Hook showed him how it was done to open up a 15-7 Gloucester lead at the break.

Gloucester impressed in the early skirmishes of the second half but could not get the points to reward their dominance and at the hour mark it was still 15-7 – Steve McColl's clever chip and chase the closest they came to a score and they were nearly punished by a fine break from Tait down the left.

Nicky Thomas won a vital turnover on his own try line to stop the Tigers that time but moments later Gloucester were left powerless to prevent a dramatic length of the field score. Peter Betham broke down the left touchline from his own 22, fed Jordan Crane and the replacement timed his pass to perfection to put Veainu over.

But once again Burns could not find his range from the tee, missing with the extras and keeping the home side 15-12 ahead as the game entered the final 10 minutes. Hook again showed Burns how to do it moments later, slotting a penalty to make it 18-12 and seemingly seal victory.

But the Tigers kept coming, again down the left they made inroads and but for a fine tackle from Halaifonua, Tait would have gone over. However, JP Doyle spotted Morgan's pull back on Veainu in the build up and the No.8 was shown a yellow card – setting up a dramatic finish with Mulipola and Bell combining to silence Kingsholm.

Scorers:

For Gloucester:

Tries: Hook, Morgan

Con: Hook

Pens: Hook 2

For Leicester Tigers:

Tries: Ayerza, Veainu, Mulipola

Cons: Burns, Bell

Yellow card: Ben Morgan (Gloucester – 75)

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Steve McColl, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 David Halaifonua, 10 James Hook, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Jacob Rowan, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Tom Savage, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.

Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Nicky Thomas, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Mark Atkinson.

Leicester: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Peter Betham, 13 Mathew Tait (captain), 12 Matt Smith, 11 Telusa Veainu, 10 Freddie Burns. 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey, 7 Tom Croft, 6 Mike Fitzgerald, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Greg Bateman, 1 Marcos Ayerza.

Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Riccardo Brugnara, 18 Logovi'i Mulipola, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Gonzalo Camacho, 23 Jack Roberts.

Referee: JP Doyle

Saracens 19-13 Bath

Bath were lively from the off as Matt Banahan, starting at centre, burst through the Saracens midfield only to throw a wayward pass to Semesa Rokoduguni, who was ushered into touch by Richard Wigglesworth.

It looked as though Bath had gone over from the resulting lineout drive but had to settle for a penalty, which Priestland knocked over. Saracens nearly responded in the eighth minute as Duncan Taylor went over in the corner but was called back for a forward pass in the build-up. It was Bath who crossed the whitewash first as, five minutes later, Homer picked an excellent line off debutant Dan Bowden after Bath's forwards asserted themselves from a lineout.

Priestland added the extras and Bath, somehow, made sure Saracens remained pointless at half-time. First Max Lahiff – an injury replacement for Nick Auterac – and Henry Thomas got the upperhand at the scrum after relentless Saracens pressure and won the penalty.

And though Saracens weren't lacking for visits to Bath's 22, uncharacteristic handling errors continued to spoil their efforts. Before the half was out, Priestland extended the lead out to 13-0 when Bath found more joy in the maul.

Saracens started the second half with far greater purpose and though Hodgson missed one penalty, he made up for it by nailing two inside the first 10 minutes. Priestland then missed a very kickable penalty from 35 metres out soon after, and balance was restored at scrum time with the introduction of USA prop Titi Lamositele.

Pressure was building, Homer made a crucial interception to keep the Premiership champions out before Leroy Houston held up Hodgson just short of the line. But Itoje eventually broke Bath open after bursting down the right flank and when Saracens recycled the ball, Brits surged through a gap and had just enough reach to dot down.

Hodgson added the extras with two minutes to go and he nudged Saracens ahead after Itoje made a menace of himself in the ruck. A further Hodgson penalty sealed the victory.

Scorers:

For Saracens:

Tries: Brits

Cons: Hodgson

Pens: Hodgson 4

For Bath:

Try: Homer

Cons: Priestland

Pens: Priestland 2

Yellow card: David Wilson (Bath – 79)

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Duncan Taylor, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Richard Barrington.

Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Hayden Smith, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Nils Mordt, 23 Nick Tompkins.

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Dan Bowden, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nick Auterac.

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 David Wilson, 19 Tom Ellis, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Alafoti Faosiliva, 22 Jonathan Evans, 23 Max Clark.

Referee: Dean Richards

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