Bath avoid the big drop; Sharks close in on Euro spot

PREMIERSHIP WRAP: Bath hauled themselves off the bottom of the table with an unlikely comeback win against London Irish, after being 10 points adrift early in the second half.

The Exiles seemed to be suffering no ill-effects from their agonising midweek Premiership Cup final defeat to Worcester when they scored a fourth, bonus-point try soon after the break.

But a Will Muir try and two penalties by Orlando Bailey, who also kicked three conversions, saw Bath fight back for only their fifth win of the season as they edged out the Irish 27-24.

They now face a shoot-out on June 4 with Worcester, three points adrift, to decide who ends up bottom of the table although there is no relegation.

* Meanwhile, in other Saturday action, a clinical second-half performance from Saracens saw them secure a home semifinal with a 42-38 win over Northampton.

* Leaders Leicester clinched their 19th Premiership win of the season with a gritty 27-5 victory over Newcastle at Kingston Park.

Tries from Nemani Nadolo and Guy Porter, bolstered by the boot of George Ford, secured the points for the table-topping Tigers, with Freddie Steward scoring late on.

* Comeback kings Harlequins booked their place in the Gallagher Premiership playoffs after another spectacular turnaround saw them beat Gloucester 28-24 at Twickenham. The Premiership champions, renowned for turning seemingly lost causes into victories, did it again as they wiped out a 17-point interval deficit.

* All Saturday’s scores and scorers!

Bath 27-24 London Irish

The scorers

For Bath
Tries: Williams, Spencer, Muir
Cons: Bailey 3
Pens: Bailey 2

For London Irish
Tries: Loader, Rowe, Creevy 2
Cons: Jackson 2

Teams

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Clark, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Miles Reid, 5 Charlie Ewels (captain), 4 Mike Williams, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Doughty, 1 Valeriy Morozov.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Ewan Richards, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Will Muir.

London Irish: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps (captain), 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Ben Donnell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 George Nott, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke.
Replacements: 16 Matt Cornish, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 22 Ben White, 23 Henry Arundell.

Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Nick Wood, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Tom Foley

Harlequins 28-24 Gloucester

The scorers

For Harlequins
Tries: Dombrandt, Marchant 2, Murley
Cons: Smith 4

For Gloucester
Tries: Morgan, Clarke, Harris
Cons: Hastings 3
Pen: Hastings

Teams

Harlequins: 15 Huw Jones, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Tom Lawday, 6 Stephan Lewies (captain), 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Simon Kerrod.
Replacements: 16 Jack Musk, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Matas Jurevicius, 20 Will Evans, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22 Tommy Allan, 23 Nick David.

Gloucester: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Giorgi Kveseladze, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Charlie Chapman, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Jack Singleton, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Jordy Reid, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Tom Seabrook.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Rob Warburton
TMO: David Rose

Newcastle Falcons 5-27 Leicester Tigers

The scorers

For Newcastle Falcons
Try: McGuigan

Leicester Tigers
Tries: Nadolo, Porter, Steward
Cons: Ford 3
Pens: Ford 2

Teams

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Michael Young, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 Josh Basham, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Philip van der Walt, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Adam Brocklebank.
Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Freddie Lockwood, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Iwan Stephens.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Guy Porter, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 George Ford, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Hanro Liebenberg, 6 George Martin, 5 Harry Wells, 4 Ollie Chessum, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Nic Dolly, 1 Ellis Genge (captain).
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Cameron Henderson, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Matt Scott.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Joe James, Wayne Falla
TMO: Hamish Smales

Saracens 42-38 Northampton Saints

The scorers

For Saracens
Tries: Tompkins, Lewington, McFarland 2, Goode
Cons: Farrell 4
Pens: Farrell 3

Northampton Saints
Tries: Freeman, Hutchinson, James 2, Proctor
Cons: Biggar 4, Hutchinson
Pen: Biggar

Teams

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Según, 10 Owen Farrell (captain), 9 Aled Davies, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Ralph Adams-Hale, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Alex Lewington.

Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Lewis Ludlam (captain), 7 Aaron Hinkley, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun.
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Alex Moon, 20 Brandon Nansen, 21 Tom James, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Ollie Sleightholme.

Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, John Meredith
TMO: Dean Richards

Sources: PA & RugbyPass