Hodgson boots Sarries clear

The nailbiting 14-11 win at a soggy Sandy Park saw the stretch their lead at the top of the Premiership table.

* In the other Sunday match Ciaran Hearn's superb first-half try set London Irish on their way to a key victory over Worcester Warriors.

We look at Sunday's matches!

Exeter Chiefs 11-14 Saracens

Charlie Hodgson's late penalty helped Saracens avenge their double defeat to Exeter Chiefs last season and stretch their lead at the top of the Premiership table.

James Short's intercept try for the Chiefs in the first half looked for a long time like it would be enough to keep the Chiefs' 15-match home winning streak.

But a Samuela Vunisa score just before the interval and three Hodgson penalties in the second half, the last of which came in the 74th minute, gave Mark McCall's troops the victory.

Just two points separated the sides coming into the clash and with top spot in their sights, it was the Rob Baxter's Chiefs who came out firing.

Olly Woodburn's fine break round the outside on the right put them into good territory and when the penalty was conceded by a back-tracking Sarries defence, Gareth Steenson made no mistake.

The Irish fly-half kicked all 27 points for the Chiefs in this clash last season and his first penalty of the day opened up a 3-0 lead.

Sarries were playing into the wind in the first period and, having worked their way slowly but surely into good territory around the quarter-hour mark they were hit by a sucker punch.

Hodgson forced an offload with the try line in reach and the ball dropped to former Sarries man Short. The winger has been in superb form of late and no-one was going to catch him as he streaked clear for the length-of-the-field score.

Steenson's conversion was pushed to the right so the hosts led 8-0 and they could, and possibly should, have had a second try moments later.

Swirling wind was creating havoc under high balls for both sides and when Chris Wyles and Ben Ransom made a mess of collecting another high bomb it was Woodburn who hacked ahead and Ollie Atkins dived on the loose ball but referee Tom Foley ruled it out for a dubious knock on.

Before the half-hour mark the Chiefs went to their speciality of the driving maul from two close-range line-outs but Saracens held firm before eventually conceding a penalty that Steenson kicked for an 11-0 lead.

But no sooner had the Chiefs built up some breathing space, than they were pegged back by the visitors.

Sarries needed a score before the break, they twice turned down kickable penalties to go to the corner but Schalk Brits and his jumpers miscommunicated both times and it appeared the chance was gone.

However, the Chiefs only had themselves to blame for continued ill discipline that let Sarries back in and it was third time lucky with the driving maul as this time Vunisa barged over.

Hodgson could not add the conversion into a howling wind but Sarries would have been pleased to get in at the break only 11-5 down.

Having switched ends it was now Sarries with the wind in their sails and after ten minutes of turning the screw they eventually took the points on offer, Hodgson slotting a penalty to trim the lead to 11-8.

But as the half ticked past the hour mark neither side could firmly establish field position, Saracens possibly guilty of wasting their chances in the Chiefs half.

But in the 67th minute the London club set up an attack again and when the Chiefs went offside, Hodgson again took the penalty on offer to level up proceedings at 11-11.

As the clock ticked into the final ten minutes the game was now in the balance and an attacking driving line-out for the Chiefs was a perfect chance to hit back.

But once again Sarries' much-vaunted defence held firm and when Steenson's clearance kick in the 74th minute was charged down, causing an accidental offside, Hodgson held his nerve from wide on the right to put the visitors in the lead.

With the clock ticking down, the Chiefs had one last chance when Nick Tompkins put a kick out on the full but still Saracens held firm to earn a vital victory that puts them five points clear on top of the standings.

The scorers:

For Exeter Chiefs:

Try: Short

Pens: Steenson 2

For Saracens:

Try: Vunisa

Pens: Hodgson 3

Teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Don Armand, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Moray Low, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Lewis Stevenson, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Max Bodilly.

Saracens: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Mike Ellery, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Samu Vunisa, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Hayden Smith, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Richard Barrington.

Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Nils Mordt, 23 Nathan Earle.

Referee: Thomas Foley

Assistant referees: Jonathan Healy

TMO: David Grashoff

London Irish 20-13 Worcester Warriors

Ciaran Hearn's superb first-half try set London Irish on their way to a key victory over Worcester Warriors.

The Exiles moved off the bottom of the table after dominating Worcester for much of the match, though the visitors kept the scoreline tight until the closing stages.

Hearn's fine chip-and-chase was the least they deserved at half-time, before Shane Geraghty and Ryan Mills traded penalty to see Irish go in 10-3 up at the break.

Yellow cards for Bryce Heem and Donncha O'Callaghan did not help Warriors' cause either, though the former redeemed himself with a 46th-minute try.

But Fenby's try, and then a late Geraghty penalty, kept the Exiles ticking over despite Val Rapava Ruskin going over for Worcester in between.

The Exiles almost had the perfect start to the contest when hooker Niall Annett was penalised inside four minutes, but Geraghty shanked his kick wide of the posts to let Worcester off the hook.

Irish again thought they had broken the deadlock after 11 minutes, only to be denied by the TMO, who awarded a Warriors penalty for Halani Aulika holding on in the tackle.

Canada centre Hearn finally gave Irish the lead with a quarter-hour played with a magnificent try, a chip-and-chase over the heads of two defenders, to go in behind and score.

Ryan Mills converted a penalty after 23 minutes to reduce the Exiles' lead and put the Warriors on the board, having repelled a good deal of pressure from the side.

But Bryce Heem was shown a yellow card for tripping up Scott Steele just past the half-hour mark to make life even more difficult for the visitors – Geraghty making no mistake with the resulting penalty.

Irish should have scored again in the closing stages of the half, with Fenby in space on the right-hand side and Hearn on the overlap, but the full-back knocked on.

Topsy Ojo almost had a try on his 250th appearance shortly after the break, but the TMO awarded a penalty to Worcester for obstruction in the build-up.

The Warriors then kicked into touch and pinned Irish back, with Heem eventually scoring uncontested, before Andy Symons dragged the conversion wide.

The Exiles thought they had struck back immediately, but the TMO chalked off an Irish try for the third time on the afternoon, Warriors lock O'Callaghan being shown a yellow card in the aftermath.

The home side finally scored their second try of the game on 54 minutes, when Geraghty's reverse pass found Fenby, who coolly touched down between the posts. Geraghty's conversion made it 17-8.

David Paice was shown a yellow card amid concerted Worcester pressure and the Warriors made the man advantage count with ten minutes to play, when replacement Rapava Ruskin snuck across the line, but Symons missed his third of three kicks and the score stayed 17-13.

Geraghty scored a penalty seven minutes from time before Irish saw out only their third Premiership victory of the season.

The scorers:

For London Irish:

Tries: Hearn, Fenby

Cons: Geraghty 2

Pens: Geraghty 2

For Worcester Warriors:

Tries: Heem, Ruskin

Pen: Mills

Yellow cards: Bryce Heem (Worcester Warriors, 32), Donncha O'Callaghan (Worcester Warriors, 50), David Paice (London Irish, 62)

Teams:

London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 Luke Narraway, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Will Lloyd, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.

Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Tom Guest, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Johnny Williams, 23 Theo Brophy-Clews.

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote 9 Luke Baldwin, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze (captain), 7 Matt Cox, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Tevita Cavubati, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.

Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 James Johnston, 19 Dan Sanderson, 20 Marco Mama, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Andy Symons.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

Assistant referees: Ian Tempest, Ashley Rowden

TMO: David Sainsbury

Source: @premrugby