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Chiefs end Saracens' home run

It ends a run of 19-straight league victories at Saracens' north London home as they suffered a fourth-straight defeat in all competitions for the first time since 2010.

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Meanwhile, Nizaam Carr’s second-half try helped Wasps fightback to beat London Irish 17-13 on a tense match at the Madejski Stadium.

Saracens 18-20 Exeter Chiefs:

First-half tries from Alex Goode and Schalk Brits gave them a 15-6 advantage at the end of the first 40 as Gareth Steenson replied with two penalties.

Ian Whitten's try brought Exeter back into the contest, a repeat of last year’s dramatic league semifinal, before Moray Low secured the win late on.

After an early Steenson penalty, Nathan Earle collected a box kick and launched a stunning counter-attack for the game’s first try.

A quick exchange of passes with Goode saw the fullback sprint through and dot down.

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With Nic White shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on, Saracens extended their lead with Brits going over from a driving maul.

An excellent cover tackle from Earle and Goode then denied Olly Woodburn as the Chiefs were restricted to just two penalties in the opening 40.

But Whitten brought the reigning champions back into the match after half time before Steenson and Marcelo Bosch exchanged penalties.

A strong Chiefs driving maul and a series of pick and goes led to Low going over the line underneath the posts to seal the win.

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The win stretches Exeter’s lead at the top of the Premiership table to five points over Saracens who remain second after their fourth straight defeat in all competitions.

The scorers:

For Saracens:

Tries: Goode, Brits

Con: Spencer

Pens: Spencer, Bosch

For Exeter:

Tries: Whitten, Low

Cons: Steenson 2

Pens: Steenson 2

Yellow Card: Nic White (Exeter Chiefs)

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Max Malins, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Calum Clark, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Richard Barrington.

Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Mark Flanagan, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Mike Ellery.

Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Nic White, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon.

Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Moray Low, 19 Toby Salmon, 20 Sam Skinner, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 James Short.

Referee: Ian Tempest

Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Roy Maybank

TMO: David Sainsbury

London Irish 13-17 Wasps

Following a tight first half, Alex Lewington went over to help put Irish 10-0 up but three tries from Ashley Johnson, Josh Bassett and Nizaam Carr put the game beyond the hosts.

Only the boot of Tommy Bell separated the two sides at the break as the hosts went in 3-0 up despite having Ben Franks yellow carded.

But Irish came out with more intent in the second period and had their reward with a try in the 52nd minute.

Lewington showed superb anticipation as he neatly intercepted Gabiriele Lovobalavu’s pass and burst his way over the whitewash to help Irish into a 10-point lead.

Wasps muscled their way back into the match as the pack mauled its way over the line with Johnson doing the honour from the back to trim the deficit to five.

A Bell penalty gave Irish breathing space but they were undone in the 63rd minute as neat handling from Willie Le Roux set Bassett free and he could not be caught as he made it 13-10.

Within striking distance, the visitors then found themselves in front as good work from Dan Robson, who jinked his way beautifully through the Irish backline and found South African Carr in support and he did the rest.

London Irish could not haul themselves back into the contest and their losing bonus point leaves them five points behind Worcester Warriors who beat Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.

The scorers:

For London Irish:

Try: Lewington

Con: Bell

Pens: Bell 2

For Wasps:

Tries: Johnson, Bassett, Carr

Con: Gopperth

London Irish: 15 James Marshall, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Tommy Bell, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Blair Cowan, 7 Max Northcote-Green, 6 Mike Coman, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 David Paice (captain), 1 Ben Franks.

Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Conor Gilsenan, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Tom Fowlie.

Wasps: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Gaby Lovobalavu, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 James Haskell, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 James Gaskell, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Ashley Johnson (captain), 1 Simon McIntyre.

Replacements: 16 Nathan Charles, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Rob Miller.

Referee: Christophe Ridley

Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Nigel Carrick

TMO: Stuart Terheege

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