Exeter and Gloucester both ran rampant as they beat Bath and London Irish while Wasps left it late to edge Leicester on Saturday.
Exeter Chiefs 42-29 Bath
Exeter Chiefs followed up last weekend's win at Saracens with a comfortable 42-29 home victory over Bath that saw them cross for six tries.
They led 28-3 at the interval thanks to a clinical opening period that saw Luke Cowan-Dickie, James Short, Mitch Lees and Don Armand all cross the whitewash, with Gareth Steenson knocking over all four of those conversions.
After the break Exeter scored their fifth try, coming through Thomas Waldrom on 53 minutes, as the lead was 32 points at Sandy Park.
But credit to Bath who finished strongly, despite the game being gone, with tries from Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson, Aled Brew and Matt Banahan, with Steenson also crossing for the Chiefs in a frantic end to the action.
The scorers:
For Exeter:
Tries: Cowan-Dickie, Short, Lees, Armand, Waldrom, Steenson
Cons: Steenson 6
For Bath:
Tries: Joseph, Watson, Brew, Banahan
Cons: Joseph, Priestland 2
Pen: Burns
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson (c), 9 Nic White, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Jack Nowell
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Paul Grant, 7 Zach Mercer, 6 Matt Garvey (c), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 James Phillips, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Matt Banahan
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Peter Allan
TMO: Claire Hodnett
Gloucester 39-15 London Irish
Gloucester’s outstanding form continued after they secured a fifth consecutive Premiership victory with a dominant 39-15 triumph over 14-man London Irish.
The Exiles were already 20-8 down when David Paice connected with Willi Heinz’s head, an incident which resulted in a red card for the hooker.
Lewis Ludlow opened the scoring for the Cherry and Whites to set them on their way and, although Tommy Bell hit back for Irish with a penalty, successive Billy Twelvetrees three-pointers extended the hosts’ buffer.
Petrus du Plessis did keep the visitors in the contest by going over from close range but Billy Burns’ try and Paice’s recklessness effectively ended the game as a contest at the break.
With Johan Ackermann’s men comfortable, they went in search of the bonus-point and, after Burns had scored his second, Jake Polledri showed excellent pace to cross the whitewash for their fourth.
Nick Kennedy’s side battled commendably and were rewarded via Filo Paulo’s effort but the basement-dwellers ultimately succumbed to a ninth league defeat in a row, a loss that was rubberstamped by Henry Purdy.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Ludlow, Burns 2, Polledri, Purdy
Cons: Twelvetrees 4
Pens: Twelvetrees 2
For London Irish:
Tries: Du Plessis, Paulo
Con: Bell
Pen: Bell
Red Card: Paice
Gloucester: 15 Tom Hudson, 14 Henry Purdy, 13 Andy Symons, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Willi Heinz (c), 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Jake Polledri, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 James Hanson, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Freddie Clarke, 20 Will Safe, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Matt Scott, 23 Mark Atkinson
London Irish: 15 James Marshall, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Tommy Bell, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Blair Cowan, 7 Max Northcote-Green, 6 Mike Coman, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 David Paice (c), 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Tom Fowlie
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Philip Watters
TMO: Sean Davey
Wasps 32-25 Leicester Tigers
A 79th minute try from lock Kearnan Myall helped Wasps beat Leicester with a bonus-point in a high-scoring game at the Ricoh Arena.
First-half tries from Nizaam Carr and Dan Robson saw the hosts go into the break leading 17-10, with Tom Youngs crossing for Tigers.
After the interval though two tries from Jonah Holmes put Leicester in the lead at 22-17 up on the hour mark as Leicester hit top gear.
However, Jimmy Gopperth's penalty and then a try from Elliot Daly moved Wasps 25-22 in front before George Ford levelled at 25-25.
Myall though had the final say with his try under the posts seeing him slip Dan Cole and secure a maximum point haul for the hosts.
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Tries: Carr, Robson, Daly, Myall
Cons: Gopperth 3
Pens: Daly, Gopperth
For Leicester:
Tries: T Youngs, Holmes 2
Cons: Ford 2
Pens: Ford 2
Wasps: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Haskell, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 James Gaskell, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Ashley Johnson (c), 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Marcus Garratt, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Gaby Lovobalavu, 23 Josh Bassett
Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Gareth Owen, 11 Jonah Holmes, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Will Evans, 6 Valentino Mapapalangi, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Mike Williams, 21 Ben White, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Matt Smith
Referee: Thomas Foley
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Paul Dix
TMO: David Sainsbury
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