Chiefs closing in on Sarries
* In the other Sunday game Newcastle Falcons recorded back-to-back Premiership victories for the first time this season as they held off Northampton Saints' second-half charge to win 26-25 at Kingston Park.
We look at Sunday's matches!
London Irish 15-22 Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs closed the gap on Saracens at the top of the Premiership table with a comeback win over London Irish at the Madejski Stadium.
London Irish led 7-6 at the break thanks to a try from Ofisa Treviranus, but the boot of Gareth Steenson kept Exeter in contention.
And they began to take control of the game in the second half with a try from Dave Lewis as well as three more penalties from Steenson.
Despite a try from Topsy Ojo against the run of play, Exeter were able to see out the win and close the gap on leaders Saracens to just four points.
Meanwhile London Irish remain bottom of the Premiership table on a weekend when both Worcester Warriors and Newcastle Falcons were victorious.
Exeter pushed hard early on but it was London Irish who took the lead with a try from Treviranus after ten minutes. It came off the back of a line-out, with Ojo slicing through in midfield after an inside ball. He then found Treviranus on his shoulder and the flanker cruised over. Theo Brophy-Clews had a nice easy kick on his first start to make it 7-0 to the home side.
The London Irish defensive line speed was causing Exeter problems, as they forced the Chiefs back behind the gain line time and again.
Steenson did at least get the visitors on the board with a magnificent long-range penalty, but they were struggling to win the territorial battle as they attacked too laterally.
Exeter changed things up slightly with half-time approaching, using their line-out as more of a weapon and they were rewarded for it when London Irish lost a man to the sin-bin.
David Paice picked up a record 19th Premiership yellow card for collapsing the maul.
Soon after Irish conceded a penalty which allowed Steenson to cut the deficit to a single point on the stroke of half-time, with the Chiefs trailing 7-6.
London Irish stretched their lead to four points early in the second half when Julian Salvi was penalised for a tackle in the air and Brophy-Clews knocked over the three points.
Exeter responded quickly with a third Steenson penalty of the afternoon to cut the deficit to one, and they took the lead for the first time soon after.
A period of possession in the Irish 22 gave Exeter the chance to hammer away with their forwards. However it was scrum-half Dave Lewis who made the difference, sniping around a ruck and gleefully diving over.
Steenson converted and on the hour he stretched the lead to nine as Irish were reduced to 14 for the second time in the game.
Ian Nagle was the man yellow-carded, batting the ball out of the hands of Lewis after Andy Fenby had been charged down in his 22. Dean Richards had no hesitation and Steenson made no mistake with the three-pointer.
But despite being down a man, the Exiles responded and got right back in it with a try against the run of play.
Michele Campagnaro, having just come on, had the ball ripped off him in the breakdown by Ojo.
The wing then had just enough pace to reach the try-line despite an incredible effort from Don Armand to try to chase him down. Brophy-Clews missed the conversion, but Irish were back to within a score with 15 minutes to go.
Still, Exeter were dominating the territory battle by this point, and another Steenson penalty pushed the lead out to seven points.
And that was how it remained as the home side had to settle for a losing bonus point while Exeter bounced back from last week's loss at Sale.
The scorers:
For London Irish:
Tries: Treviranus, Ojo
Con: Clews
Pen: Clews
For Exeter Chiefs:
Try: Lewis
Con: Steenson
Pens: Steenson 5
Yellow cards: David Paice (London Irish, 36), Ian Nagle (London Irish, 58)
Teams:
London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ciaran Hearn, 10 Theo Brophy Clews, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 Luke Narraway (captain), 6 Ofisa Treviranus, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Smallbone.
Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Ian Nagle, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Christian Lewis-Pratt.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodbury, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Don Armand, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Jonny Hill, 3 Moray Low, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Michele Campagnaro.
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Paul Dix
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Newcastle Falcons 26-25 Northampton Saints
Newcastle Falcons recorded back-to-back Premiership victories for the first time this season as they held off Northampton Saints' second-half charge to win 26-25 at Kingston Park.
Buoyed by beating Leicester Tigers last time out, Kingston Park were treated to another fine display from the Falcons as they climbed back up 10th in the table.
Scores from Alex Tait and Chris Harris, as well as the boot of Andy Goode, saw the hosts go in at half-time 20-11 ahead, with the Saints on the board through a converted Jamie Gibson try and a Stephen Myler penalty.
Goode stretched the Falcons' lead after the restart with two penalties, before two Lee Dickson tries, both converted by replacement JJ Hanrahan, brought Northampton to within a point of their hosts with ten minutes remaining.
But Newcastle held firm, winning a line-out against the throw to secure the win.
Newcastle arrived at this game having only been beaten once in their last seven outings at Kingston Park, and they started this game on the front.
The home fans thought they were celebrating an early try when the Saints let the kick-off drop and the ball bounced into Scott Lawson's hands, with the hosts going through phases before feeding Marcus Watson on the left.
He showed great pace and quick feet to dot down but the score was chalked off for an obstruction.
However, the home side didn't have to wait long for a try as moments later the Falcons' forwards got Andy Goode into position, the fly-half firing a deep pass wide right for Tait to go over in the corner.
Goode added the conversion but Northampton were on the scoresheet themselves shortly after as Gibson was driven over in the corner, but Stephen Myler was wide with his kick.
The visitors had their tails up now and Myler made no mistake with a penalty from in front of the posts after Newcastle were penalised for not rolling away.
Goode and Myler then traded penalties before Newcastle grabbed their second try of the game on the half hour mark through Harris.
It was Watson again with the break and Simon Hammersley was held up just shy of the tryline, but Harris was on hand to find the last few metres.
Goode once again nailed the touchline conversion before adding a penalty with a minute of the first 40 remaining to give the Falcons a 20-11 half-time lead.
Northampton controlled possession early after the break but it was Newcastle who got the first points of the second-half, Goode with another penalty.
Goode then added another three points to push the home side two-converted tries clear and it was just as well as Dickson touched down off the back off a scrum, replacement JJ Hanrahan adding the extras.
But Newcastle continued to threaten and on the hour more good work from Hammersley and Watson looked to open Saints up but the final pass just wasn't found.
Hanrahan attempted to close the gap further but got his drop goal attempt horribly wrong.
But the Falcons were within one point on 68 minutes as Dickson added a second try from close range, Hanrahan adding the extras.
Replacement George Pisi looked like grabbing the winning try with three minutes remaining, but Mark Wilson stepped up to repel the danger before Newcastle won a Saints line-out to bring the final whistle.
The scorers:
For Newcastle Falcons:
Tries: Harris, Tait
Con: Goode 2
Pens: Goode 4
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Gibson, Dickson 2
Cons: Hanrahan 2
Pens: Myler 2
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Michael Young, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Mark Wilson, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Taione Vea, 2. Scott Lawson, 1. Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Josh Furno, 20 Nili Latu, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Juan Socino.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 James Wilson, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson,(captain) 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 James Craig, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Tom Kessell, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 George Pisi.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce and Andy Watson
TMO: David Sainsbury
Source: @premrugby
