Leicester continued their good form with a win at London Irish whilst Northampton lost for the first time since Round 1 at Gloucester.
Elsewhere in Saturday's Premiership fixtures, Exeter returned to winning ways and Bath kept Worcester winless with victory at the Rec.
Bath 29-12 Worcester
Todd Blackadder's men built on last weekend's win over Wasps whilst avoiding another embarrassing home defeat by beating winless Worcester at the Rec.
Jonathan Joseph, a man with a point to prove after being omitted from England's EPS, scored the first try before Dean Hammond replied for the visitors.
Winger Aled Brew and his fellow back Ben Tapuai both crossed before the half-time whistle went to give Bath a comfortable lead at the break.
Worcester fly-half Jamie Shillcock scored a try five minutes into the second-half before Brew doubled his try tally for the day to give Bath their bonus point.
Freddie Burns kicked three conversions in his first start at 10 in the absence of Rhys Priestland as Bath began to rediscover some of the early season momentum that had elapsed after back-to-back defeats in September.
The scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Joseph, Brew 2, Tapuai
Cons: Burns 3
Pen: Lewis
For Worcester:
Tries: Hammond, Shillcock
Pen: Shillcock
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Zach Mercer, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Charlie Ewels (c), 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 James Phillips, 20 Levi Douglas, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Max Clark
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 David Denton, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c) 3 Biyi Alo, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ryan Bower
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Christian Scotland-Williamson, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Wynand Olivier
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley, Simon McConnell
TMO: Graham Hughes
Exeter 34-24 Newcastle
The champions returned to winning ways at their Sandy Park home after last week's reverse at Welford Road with a routine victory over early high flyers Newcastle.
Nic White and Lachie Turner both crossed within the first 20 minutes to give Rob Baxter's men a 17-0 lead before Steenson kicked a further penalty to push the score out to 20-0.
The visitors responded however when Will Welch went over, only to see Sam Simmonds respond for the Chiefs three minutes later.
Juan Pable Socino scored just before the interval to give the Falcons some hope and when Alex Tait crossed midway through the second period another big away day performance looked a possibility.
The returning Toby Flood kicked his side's first conversion at their third attempt but three minutes later the Chiefs were awarded the bonus point courtesy of a penalty try to give them the maximum five points.
Dean Richards and his side did manage to secure a try bonus point to take with them on their long travel back up north however when Vereniki Goneva scored a fantastic try that Flood converted.
The scorers:
For Exeter:
Tries: White, Turner, Simmonds, Penalty Try
Cons: Steenson 4
Pens: Steenson 2
For Newcastle:
Tries: Welch, Socino, Tait, Goneva
Cons: Flood 2
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Lachie Turner, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Nic White, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Don Armand, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Carl Rimmer
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Julian Salvi, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Tom Hendrickson, 23 Phil Dollman
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Craig Willis, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Nili Latu, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Will Witty, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Trevor Davison
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Rob Vickers, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Josh Matavesi
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Philip Watters
TMO: Keith Lewis
Gloucester 29-24 Northampton
A double from centre Henry Trinder helped Gloucester score five tries as they brought Northampton back down to earth with an entertaining win at Kingsholm.
The league leaders travelled west in top form after four consecutive wins but Gloucester, in desperate need of a performance following last weekend's drubbing at Sale, got the result they needed to get their campaign back on track.
Trinder crossed after eight minutes before Saints back rower Jamie Gibson levelled the contest. Trinder scored his second with the first-half clock in the red to send the Shed into the interval in high spirits.
Northampton fly-half Harry Mallinder scored his side's second try two minutes into the second period before three Gloucester tries in 15 minutes took the game away from the visitors. First Jason Woodward scored before Billy Twelvetrees and Willi Heinz crossed the whitewash.
Owen Williams converted the latter two tries on his first appearance for the Cherry and Whites. Mikey Haywood scored with 10 minutes remaining to earn the Saints at least a bonus point to take back as they prepare to host European champions Saracens next week.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Trinder 2, Woodward, Twelvetrees, Heinz
Cons: Williams 2
For Northampton:
Tries: Gibson, Mallinder, Haywood
Cons: Mallinder 2, Myler
Pen: Mallinder
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Henry Purdy, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 David Halaifonua, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Willi Heinz (c), 8 Ruan Ackermann 7 Jacob Rowan, 6 Lewis Ludlow, 5 Ed Slater; 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa; 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Freddie Clarke, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Tom Hudson
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 George North, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Harry Mallinder, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 David Ribbans, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Ben Foden
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
London Irish 27-28 Leicester
Leicester recorded their fourth win on the bounce in Reading but weren't able to leave with a bonus point as they beat London Irish 28-27.
The home side remain without a win since the opening weekend of the season whilst Leicester continue their resurgence up the Premiership table.
Nick Malouf scored the only try of the first half to accompany three George Ford penalties with Tommy Bell kicking three points for the home side.
Will Evans broke clear early in the second period to extend the Tigers lead before another Bell penalty and then a Blair Cowan try gave the home side hope.
Jonny May appeared to put the contest to bed when he was able to walk in when Matt Toomua found him with a looping pass. But Nick Kennedy's side, renowned for growing into matches, scored the final two tries to snatch a point at the death.
David Paice dived over the try line unchallenged after London Irish recycled quickly and then, with the clock in the red, Alex Lewington crossed to give the home side what could be a vital losing bonus point come the season's end.
The scorers:
For London Irish:
Tries: Cowan, Paice, Lewington
Cons: Bell 3
Pens: Bell 2
For Leicester:
Tries: Malouf, Evans, May
Cons: Ford 2
Pens: Ford 3
London Irish: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 12 Greig Tonks, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 James Marshall, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Josh McNally, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 David Paice (c), 1 Ben Franks
Replacements: 16 Todd Gleave, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Teofilo Paulo, 20 Lasha Lomidze, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Tom Fowlie
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Nick Malouf, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Valentino Mapapalangi, 7 Will Evans, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Patrick Cilliers, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Matt Smith
Referee: John-Paul Doyle
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Matthew O'Grady
TMO: David Rose
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