Bath fight back to sink Warriors

The win was a special one for Mike Ford's side as they were 6-14 down at half-time and completely outplayed in the first half.

Northampton Saints moved to within two points of the Premiership top four with a convincing 35-7 over London Irish.

Gloucester flyhalf James Hook made sure there was no way back for Harlequins after the he scored 18 points in the first half to hand Gloucester a 28-6 victory at Kingsholm.

In Saturday's other game, Sale Sharks held off a ferocious Exeter Chiefs comeback to extend their unbeaten home record this season with a 23-17 win at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Worcester Warriors 14-16 Bath

Dean Ryan's side came close in the final ten minutes through penalty attempts from Ryan Mills and Tom Heathcote, but the Warriors should have been out of sight after a dominant first half.

Bath, with 19-year-old son of Scotland legend Gavin Hastings starting his first Premiership game at flyhalf, started brightly through Tom Homer's penalty, only for Worcester to roar back into contention.

Dean Ryan's side went in 14-6 ahead at half-time after dominating for large periods and their first score came when ex-Bath man Heathcote's pass unlocked the defence and allowed Chris Pennell to put in Cooper Vuna.

Former Ireland and Lions lock Donncha O'Callaghan then powered over in the corner before Homer struck back with three points for Mike Ford's men.

Ford's side looked more like last season's Premiership finalists in the second half as tries from Jonathan Evans and another Homer penalty gave them a lead they refused to relinquish. 

Livewire scrumhalf Niko Matawalu's tap penalty put Worcester on the back-foot and the home team then gifted Bath a penalty for taking a man without the ball, Homer slotted the points to give Bath a lead on six minutes. 

Worcester's first score came as Nick Auterac got on the wrong side of JP Doyle, who reversed a Bath penalty, which Heathcote put deep into Bath territory. 

After claiming the line-out, a flat Heathcote pass unlocked the Bath defence, Wynand Olivier came onto the ball at pace and shifted it to fullback Pennell who sent Vuna over in the corner for an exceptional score, Heathcote converted superbly from the touchline.

With 15 minutes remaining in the half, O'Callaghan found himself in space and after bursting through one tackler, Baldwin recycled the ball and fed to Pennell whose sharp inside ball put the rampaging O'Callaghan over for his first Worcester try.

Heathcote again converted from out wide to make it 14-3. 

Bath struck back before the half hour through Homer, who added three points after a Worcester infringement.

Ford's side turned down kickable penalty just before half-time to kick for the corner, but were stifled by brilliant Warriors defence and Hastings put a drop-goal wide.

Bath centre Max Clark was yellow-carded just after half-time for a clumsy tackle on Bryce Heem, but Carl Kirwan then gifted Homer a shot at goal, which the fullback pushed wide.

With just under 30 minutes remaining, England winger Semesa Rokoduguni brilliantly dispossessed Pennell from a contestable Evans box kick and the winger's offload then sent the substitute scumhalf – who had only been on the field for two minutes – over and Homer nudged the extras from the touchline. 

Another dominant scrummage from substitute loosehead Beno Obano with ten minutes to go gave Homer a shot at goal which he duly converted to put Bath ahead for the first time since the 13th minute.

First youngster Mills missed a tough chance to clinch the win with under ten minutes to go and then when awarded a penalty inside the Bath 22, Heathcote pushed another attempt agonisingly wide and Mills failed again in the closing moments with a drop-goal.

The scorers:

For Worcester Warriors:

Tries: Vuna, O'Callaghan

Cons: Heathcote 2

For Bath:

Try: Evans

Con: Homer

Pens: Homer 3

Yellow card: Max Clark (Bath)

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Andy Symons, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Luke Baldwin, 8 GJ van Velze (captain), 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.

Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Na’ama Leleimalefaga, 18 James Johnston, 19 Dan Sanderson, 20 Dewald Potgieter, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Ryan Mills

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Clark, 12 Matt Banahan, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Leroy Houston, 5 Tom Ellis, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nick Auterac. 

Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Beno Obano, 18 David Wilson, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Dominic Day, 21 Matt Garvey, 22 Jonathan Evans, 23 Jeff Williams.

Referee: JP Doyle

Northampton Saints 35-7 London Irish

The Exiles had slipped to the foot of the table the previous evening, courtesy of Newcastle Falcons' impressive victory over Leicester Tigers.

And despite coming into the game off the back of a morale-boosting victory over Worcester Warriors last time out – and beating Northampton earlier in the season – they were well beaten at Franklin's Gardens.

The Saints raced into a 21-0 lead at the break, James Craig and Alex Waller scoring either side of a penalty try, while Jamie Elliott and man-of-the-match Lee Dickson added second-half scores.

David Paice pulled one back for the Exiles late on but there was no hope of a fightback and they will finish the weekend bottom of the pile.

Northampton showed an early glimpse of their quality when Stephen Myler fed Dickson, who allowed Luther Burrell to break through the Irish line but a Harry Mallinder knock-on halted their progress.

They earned a man advantage when Halani Aulika was sin-binned for not retreating on 12 minutes and they soon capitalised, the pack piling over the line for Craig to score and Myler duly converting.

And that advantage doubled just before Aulika was welcomed back into fold, the Exiles hauling down a maul and conceding a penalty try, Myler tapping over the extras.

Irish missed an opportunity to hit back with a maul of their own, when they knocked on just shy of the Northampton line, while Shane Geraghty watched a penalty fall just short of the posts seven minutes before half-time.

That miss was punished just a few minutes later when the Saints set up camp inside their visitors' 22 and Waller collected a neat Elliott offload to score – Myler preserved his perfect record from the tee to make it 21-0 at the break.

Geraghty began the second half with a sharp break but couldn't find the crucial offload and, much like they did in the first half, Northampton punished their visitors.

Burrell and James Wilson linked up well as Saints stole a march deep into Irish territory and Elliott crossed over for the bonus-point try – verified by the TMO.

Myler converted and almost immediately from the re-start they struck again, Tom Wood picking a perfect gap and Jamie Gibson producing a tidy offload for captain Dickson to score – another two points for the flyhalf.

A raft of changes from both sides saw the game slow down somewhat before it was Northampton's turn to see a man sent to the sin bin, replacement flyhalf JJ Hanrahan the offender.

They were soon down to 13 when Gibson saw yellow for not retreating and Irish at last got on the scoreboard, when Paice crossed over late on and Geraghty converted.

The scorers:

For Northampton Saints:

Tries: Craig, Waller, Elliot, Dickson, Penalty try

Cons: Myler

For London Irish:

Try: Paice

Con: Geraghty

Yellow cards: Jamie Gibson (Saints), JJ Hanrahan (Saints), Halani Aulika (London Irish)

Teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 James Wilson, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson (captain), 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 James Craig, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Tom Kessell, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 George Pisi.

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

Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Theo Brophy-Clews, 23 Dom Waldouck.

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth

Gloucester 28-6 Harlequins

The two sides could not be separated at Big Game 8 in December – in a thrilling 39-39 draw at Twickenham – but James Hook's third-minute try here set the tone for a fine afternoon for Gloucester.

England No.8 Ben Morgan also completed a fine move and, allied to Hook's kicking, the Cherry and Whites entered the break 23-6 to the good.

Harlequins shored things up but with three minutes remaining Steve McColl rubbed salt in their wounds, as the visitors fell to their third Premiership defeat in a row.

Gloucester bolted out of the blocks as Charlie Sharples gathered the kick-off and hared downfield – only to be caught my his counterpart on the wing Marland Yarde.

The hosts didn't let up from there and following Morgan's quick tap penalty, they worked it out to the left before Hook used all of his muscle to touch down and then convert in the third minute.

Harlequins set about righting the ship and after a sustained spell of pressure, won a penalty at the breakdown for Nick Evans to knock over.

Hook had started the bit between his teeth however and judged the breeze brilliantly to splice the posts after James Horwill had taken out an airborne Sharples.

It got worse for Harlequins moments later – Billy Burns chipped over their line and Ross Chisholm was sent to the sin by Wayne Barnes for tackling the Gloucester fullback without the ball.

Hook made no mistake with the resulting penalty, to put the Cherry and Whites 13-3 up with 18 minutes played.

Evans almost immediately responded with his boot to cut the deficit down to seven, but Harlequins suffered another scary moment when Billy Meakes chased a kick upfield.

Tim Visser won the footrace but missed the ball, forcing Yarde to kick the ball out of the back, and Gloucester eventually profited.

Lovely play between Willi Heinz, Matt Kvesic and Sharples saw Morgan barrel over after the ball was moved out wide – and Hook added the extras.

And an inspired Hook had the last word of the half with a 37th-minute penalty to open up a 17-point lead for Gloucester, while his opposing No.10 Evans limped off with an injury.

It was more of the same early in the second half but they scored no points to show for it, as two wayward Hook penalties sandwiched a Burns effort that was chalked off for a forward pass in the build-up.

The two teams then cancelled each other out for a spell but in the 68th minute Visser was close to injecting life into Harlequins – and was stopped by Callum Braley's superb one-on-one tackle.

Though the visitors remained on the attack, their last chance to salvage the game had seemingly slipped away.

Ultimately Gloucester added the gloss when the ball was turned over and McColl slid into the corner on the end of a searing Mark Atkinson break.

The scorers:

For Gloucester:

Tries: Hook, Morgan, McColl

Cons: Hook 2

Pens: Jook 3

For Harlequins:

Pens: Evan 2

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Billy Burns, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Billy Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Steve McColl, 10 James Hook, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Rob Cook.

Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Marland Yrade, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Nick Evans (captain), 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Dave Ward, 6 Luke Wallace, 5 James Horwill, 4 George Merrick, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Mark Lambert.

Replacements: 16 James Chisholm, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Ben Botica, 21 Calum Waters, 22 Winston Stanley, 23 Tim Swiel.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

Sale Sharks 23-17 Exeter Chiefs

Sale dominated the first half and crossed three times to lead 17-0 as they looked to build on their excellent home form.

Johnny Leota, Nev Edwards and Mike Haley, in fortuitous circumstances, all went over in a fantastic opening 40 minutes.

However the second half belonged to the Chiefs, with converted scores from Jack Yeandle and Dave Lewis, but improved kicking from Danny Cipriani after the break was just enough to keep the visitors at a safe distance.

It hadn't looked as though the Sharks would be on top in the first half though when they lost prop Ross Harrison to a yellow card after just eight minutes.

The loosehead tackled Will Chudley after he had taken a quick penalty, and was sin-binned for his troubles.

Exeter couldn't make it count though, and instead lost winger James Short to a yellow card of his own, when he collided with Will Addison in the air.

With both teams down to 14, it was the Sharks who opened the scoring after a great carry from Dave Seymour. While Phil Dollman was able to stop him, the ball was recycled quickly and Johnny Leota made the most of the massive overlap to cross on the right. Cipriani missed the conversion.

Harrison returned soon after and with the extra man Sale extended their lead through Edwards. Sam James set it up and good hands sent the flyer over.

Cipriani was again off-target with the conversion and Sale led 10-0, although Exeter had enjoyed more of the possession.

The half got even worse for Chiefs in the closing minutes as Haley showed his opportunistic side. A Cipriani drop goal attempt came back off the post but the fullback was quickest to react and went over. Cipriani finally kicked his first points of the afternoon with the conversion.

Exeter needed to start the second half quickly, and they did just that, getting on the front foot early. The pressure eventually told with skipper Yeandle on hand to cross for the visitors' first points. Gareth Steenson converted to cut the deficit to ten points.

Sale were eager to kill off any hopes of a comeback, and quickly stretched their lead when Cipriani slotted a long range penalty.

Trailing by 13, Exeter were given some tricky decisions when they had a couple of kickable penalties. They chose to go for the corner rather than the posts, and that came back to haunt them as the first led to a knock-on, while Sale were able to steal the second lineout.

Still, they didn't give up hope, and with 12 minutes remaining they got back to within a score thanks to their second try. It came after some good scrummaging close to the line and while Sale just about held, Lewis was able to snipe his way over. Steenson's conversion took Exeter back into bonus point territory.

It didn't last long though, with Cipriani replying with a penalty following a good break from Edwards to make it 23-14.

Exeter gave it their all to try to at least get away with a late bonus point and they looked to have it when Steenson nailed a long-range kick.

But going for the win, they ended up conceding a penalty instead, which gave Cipriani the chance to deny the Chiefs a bonus point. But his effort was well wide and although Exeter tried to run it back, their attack came to nothing and eventually they had to settle for a point.

The scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: Leota, Edwards, Haley

Con: Cipriani

Pens: Cipriani 2

For Exeter Chiefs:

Tries: Yeandle, Lewis

Cons: Steenson 2

Pen: Steenson

Yellow cards: Ross Harrison (Sale Sharks), James Short (Exeter Chiefs)

Teams: 

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Sam James, 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Nev Edwards, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Mark Easter, 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Cameron Neild, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ross Harrison.

Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Jonathan Mills, 20 Magnus Lund, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Tom Arscott.

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 Jonny Hill, 3 Moray Low, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon. 

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

Referee: Andrew Small

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