Sarries cement top spot
WRAP: Saracens remain unbeaten in the Premiership and well ahead of the rest after a convincing win over the Bristol Bears away from home on Saturday.
They sit quite comfortably atop the log with 38 log points, followed well behind by the Sale Sharks with 28 points.
Sale tightened their grip on second place in the Premiership with a 27-17 win over in-form Gloucester.
Joe Carpenter and Tommy Taylor gave Sale an early 14-0 lead before Santiago Socino hit back at AJ Bell Stadium.
Ben Curry’s try and a Robert du Preez penalty pushed Sale 24-5 ahead, but a Jacob Morris score restored hope.
Gloucester bossed territory after the break, but a second Du Preez penalty took Sharks further clear before Freddie Clarke’s late consolation.
After a rare home defeat by Saracens last time out, normal service was resumed for Sale who went six points clear in second place.
The result also halted a fine start to the campaign from Gloucester – who were without 11 players on international duty – and stay fifth after just a second defeat of the season.
Yet the win was dampened by the loss of England scrum-half Raffi Quirke who was forced off injured with four minutes left having only returned from a long-term hamstring problem on 14 October.
Looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats which had ended their perfect start to the Premiership campaign, Sale outplayed Gloucester in the first half, more than the 24-10 half-time lead suggested.
Sale were forced to concede a succession of penalties, but withstood mounting pressure on their line, Morris almost dotting down on the stretch.
Du Preez, the Premiership’s leading points scorer for the season, took his haul to 12 for the match and 87 for the campaign with a penalty which took Sale three scores clear.
Bath secured back-to-back wins as they edged past fellow strugglers Newcastle 17-10 at Kingston Park.
Ted Hill cancelled out Adam Radwan’s acrobatic finish to bring Bath level at the break after a scrappy first half.
Billy Searle’s penalty put the visitors ahead for the first time shortly after the Falcons lost centre George Wacokecoke to a serious leg injury.
Ollie Lawrence claimed the crucial try before Brett Connon’s last-gasp penalty gave the hosts a losing bonus point.
Newcastle have now won just once in their past 11 Premiership outings, going back to last season, and remain bottom of the pile, while Bath leapfrog West Country rivals Bristol into eighth.
The afternoon had started so well for the Falcons who led within seven minutes when Michael Young’s floated pass gave Radwan enough space for an acrobatic diving finish in the corner.
Playing in teeming rain, the hosts continued to have the better of a disjointed first half and forced a string of penalties, but errors prevented them extending their lead. Both sides continued to struggle for fluency, but it was Bath who took control as Searle nudged them ahead on his debut, before Max Ojomoh’s slide-rule grubber kick allowed Lawrence to dive over in the corner.
A little gloom was lifted when Connon’s kick earned the Falcons a point after Matt Gallagher’s shoulder had brought down a flying Radwan.
Saracens overcame Bristol 25-10 in an attritional contest to extend their perfect Premiership start with an eighth straight win.
Max Malins lit up a dour first half with a super try before two penalties from Alex Goode gave Sarries a 13-0 lead at the break. Goode added two more penalties before Harry Thacker drove over to get Bristol up and running.
It was only the second time this season that Saracens failed to claim a try bonus-point, but it was more than enough to beat a below-par Bears and restore their 10-point cushion to second-placed Sale.
A pre-match downpour and a host of changes may have hindered both sides as the opening half-hour saw plenty of kicking tennis, but very little rugby and no opportunities for points.
Missing a big contingent on international duty, Saracens made five changes, while centre Joe Jenkins became Bristol’s youngest-ever Premiership starter, making his debut alongside fellow academy player Deago Bailey.
Two more kicks took Goode to 20 points before Jono Benz-Salomon’s consolation.
All Saturday’s scores and scorers
Bath 17 – 10 Newcastle
Scorers
For Newcastle
Tries: Radwan
Conversion: Connon
Penalty: Connon
For Bath
Tries: Hill, Lawrence Cons: Worboys, Searle
Penalty: Searle
Teams
Newcastle: 15 Obatoyinbo, 14 Radwan, 13 Wacokecoke, 12 Lucock, 11 Stevenson, 10 Connon, 9 Young; 8 Brocklebank, 7 Blamire, 6 Palframan, 5 Dalton, 4 de Chaves, 3 Lockwood, 2 Collett, 1 Chick.
Replacements: 16 McGuigan, 17 Brantingham,18 Tampin, 19 Merrick, 20 Pepper, 21 Stuart, 22 Schoeman, 23 Penny.
Bath: 15 Gallagher, 14 Hamer-Webb, 13 Lawrence, 12 Ojomoh, 11 McConnochie, 10 Worboys, 9 Green; 8 Morozov, 7 Dunn, 6 Rae, 5 Lee-Warner, 4 Roux, 3 Hill, 2 Reid, 1 de Carpentier.
Replacements: 16 Annett, 17 Cordwell, 18 Jonker, 19 Ellis, 20 Bayliss, 21 Carr-Smith, 22 Searle, 23 Joseph.
Referee: Hamish Smales (England).
Sale 27-17 Gloucester
The Scorers
For Sale
Tries: Carpenter, Taylor, Curry
Conversions: R du Preez (3)
Penalties: R du Preez (2)
For Gloucester
Tries: Socino, Morris, Clarke Cons: Evans
Teams
Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Robert du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 6 Jono Ross, 5 Josh Beaumont, 4 Jean-Luc du Preez, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Akker van der Merwe, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 James Harper, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Byron McGuigan
Gloucester: 15 Kyle Moyle, 14 Tom Seabrook, 13 Jack Reeves, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Jake Morris, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Charlie Chapman, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Cam Jordan, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Jordy Reid, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 George Barton, 23 Alex Hearle
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Wayne Falla, John Meredith
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 George Wacokecoke, 12 Pete Lucock, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (captain), 8 Callum Chick, 7 Connor Collett, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Matthew Dalton, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 George Merrick, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Tom Penny
Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 George Worboys, 9 Max Green, 8 Richard de Carpentier, 7 Miles Reid, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Quinn Roux, 4 Fergus Lee-Warner, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Tom Dunn (captain), 1 Valeriy Morozov
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Tom Ellis, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Jonathan Joseph
Referee: Hamish Smales
Assistant referees: James Clarke, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Dean Richards
Bristol Bears 10-25 Saracens
The Scorers
For Saracens
Try: Malins
Conversion: Goode
Penalties: Goode 6
For Bristol
Tries: Thacker, Benz-Salomon
Teams
Bristol: 15 Luke Morahan, 14 Deago Bailey, 13 Joe Jenkins, 12 Sam Bedlow, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Will Porter, 8 Fitz Harding, 7 Jake Heenan (captain), 6 Magnus Bradbury, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 Jay Tyack, 2 Bryan Byrne, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Jonathan Benz-Salomon, 19. John Hawkins, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Jack Bates
Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Alex Goode, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Ben Earl (captain), 6 Andy Christie, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Robin Hislop
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 James Flynn, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Andrew Kitchener, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Josh Hallett, 23 Tom Howe
Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant referees: Mike Hudson, Peter Allan
TMO: Adam Leal
