Bath run continues

Bath continued their good start to the Premiership season as they swept aside second-bottom Newcastle Falcons thanks to an inspired display from flyhalf Gavin Henson.

The 32-year-old booted 13 points for Mike Ford's side to help them secure their sixth straight win at the Recreation Ground and extend their run to one loss in 19 matches against the Falcons.

The hosts led 10-7 at the interval as captain Stuart Hooper touched down following Mark Wilson's score for the Falcons before Jonathan Joseph claimed a converted try on 52 minutes and Henson landed two further penalties.

Sinoti Sinoti crossed over late on to give Bath a scare but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation as Dean Richards's side fell to their fifth league defeat of the season.

It was the visitors who started the brighter, however, and they should have taken the lead early on but Argentine fly-half Juan Pablo Socino was unable to convert either of his opening penalty attempts despite being well placed.

Newcastle, who came into the match in search of a third straight Premiership victory, continued to press but Socino's missed chances soon proved costly.

A swift passing move from Bath saw the ball end up in the hands of former Welsh international Henson and his drop goal gave the hosts a 27th-minute lead with his first points of the season.

It wouldn't last for long, however, as Newcastle secured a five-metre line-out before Wilson – who had been denied by a TMO decision just minutes before – broke free of the Falcons maul and touched down for his second try in as many games and Socino added the extras to make it 3-7 on 35 minutes.

With time winding down in the opening period it was Hooper who would have the final say as he collected the ball from the base of the maul before crashing over for his first try since April and regaining the lead for his side as Henson added two more to give Mike Ford's men a 10-7 lead at the break.

With England head coach Stuart Lancaster having called up many of Bath's first team, Mike Ford was forced into making a string of changes including recalling Hooper and Joseph to the side and giving a full Premiership debut to exciting young forward Charlie Ewels.

But despite the changes, Bath showed no signs of missing Semesa Rokoduguni and co and they moved further ahead when Joseph touched down his sixth try in seven matches before Henson kicked over.

With 13 minutes to go, Henson extended the Bath advantage with a penalty after Socino was sent to the bin for repeated infringements and offsides at the ruck.

But the visitors fought back and set up a tense final 10 minutes when Sinoti was found in space and the winger dotted down before Rory Clegg converted to make it 20-14.

With less than two minutes remaining a powerful scrum from the Bath forwards led to another Henson penalty attempt and he kept his cool to kick over his 13th point of the match to complete a sublime kicking performance and deny Newcastle a losing bonus point.

* In the other Saturday match three first-half tries for Sale Sharks laid the foundations for a bonus-point Premiership win over a sluggish London Irish side at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Irish had taken an early lead but tries from David Seymour and skipper Daniel Braid put Sharks in a commanding position and a penalty try in the dying moments of the opening period all-but killed off any challenge from Brian Smith's men.

Sale were less clinical after the restart but another penalty try gave them a bonus point while Andy Forsyth crossed late on as they comfortably sealed their third win of the season.

The victory and takes them above Irish – for whom George Skivington crossed late on – in the table but it was the visitors who started the stronger, Chris Noakes knocking over a penalty from just inside Sale's half after the home side collapsed a maul at midfield.

Saturday's scores and scorers:

Sale Sharks 36-8 London Irish

Scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: Seymour, Braid, Penalty try 2, Forsyth

Cons: Cipriani 3, Macleod

Pen: Cipriani

For London Irish:

Try: Skivington

Pen: Noakes

Yellow cards: David Paice (Londoin Irish, 34), Luke Narraway (London Irish, 40)

The scorers:

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Mark Jennings, 12 Sammy Tuitupou, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Will Cliff, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.

Replacements: 16 Cameron Neild, 17 James Flynn, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Nick McLeod, 23 Andy Forsyth.

London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Eoin Griffin, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Luke Narraway, 6 Kieran Low, 5 Sean Cox, 4 George Skivington (captain), 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.

Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Jamie Hagan, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Dave Lyons, 20 Ollie Curry, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Myles Dorrian, 23 James Short.

Referee: Matthew Carley

Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Ashley Rowden

TMO: Trevor Fisher

Bath 23-14 Newcastle Falcons

The scorers:

For Bath:

Tries: Hooper, Joseph

Cons: Henson 2

Pens: Henson 2

DG: Henson

For Newcastle Falcons

Tries: M Wilson, Sinoti

Cons: Socino, Clegg

Yellow card: Juan Socino (Newcastle Falcons, 64)

Teams:

Bath: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Gavin Henson, 9 Micky Young, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 David Sisi, 6 Charlie Ewels, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nathan Catt.

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Max Northcote-Green, 22 Chris Cook, 23 Richard Lane.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Juan Pablo Socino, 9 Ruki Tipuna, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Andy Saull (captain), 6 Sean Robinson, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Callum Green, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Rob Vickers.

Replacements: 16 Alex Rogers, 17 Scott Lawson, 18 Oliver Tomasczyzk, 19 Scott MacLeod, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Mike Blair, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Alex Tait.

Referee: Ian Tempest

Assistant referees: Andrew Pearce, Simon Mcconnell

TMO: Geoffrey Warren