De Villiers on song for Tigers

Adam Thompstone grabbed a double while there were also tries for Harry Thacker, Lachlan McCaffrey, Jono Kitto and Tom Croft in the seven-try mauling. the Exiles did manage three second-half scores of their own through David Paice, Joe Trayfoot and Andy Fenby but it was too little too late.

*Gareth Steenson passed the 1,000-point milestone for Exeter Chiefs as they narrowly defeated Bath 26-17 to close the gap on Saracens at the top of the table. With Saracens having been held to a 36-36 draw at Sale Sharks 24 hours earlier, Rob Baxter's men led throughout against Bath, thanks to the boot of Steenson.

But tries either side of the interval for the visitors made it a nervous finish for the home faithful, before Kai Horstmann crossed at the death to seal it.

*Wasps marched back into the top four with a six-try win over Harlequins at the Ricoh Arena. Dai Young's side scored three tries in each half, with Jimmy Gopperth enjoying a fine afternoon with the boot, to push Wasps up to third in the table,

We look at all Sunday's scores and scorers!

Exeter Chiefs 26-17 Bath

A gale-force wind blowing around Sandy Park affected the fluidity in the early exchanges and the ability to clear lines under pressure. Steenson was perhaps most affected and twice saw penalties swerve against the post in the first half but the No.10 was sharp off the tee, opening the scoring after 12 minutes after a scrum collapsed in front of the posts.

He doubled the advantage on 18 minutes and then bisected the uprights 10 minutes later with a fine effort from 40 metres. Exeter's first try came five minutes before the interval and it was worth the wait.

The Chiefs worked the ball from right to left inside their own 22 and created space for James Short to burst down the left. He glided past an attempted tackle from Tom Homer before offloading to Ian Whitten who finished in the corner. Steenson made no mistake with the conversion.

On the stroke of half-time though, Bath were back in the game. Following a five metre lineout, the maul drove for the line with Amanaki Mafi eventually the man to cross for his second try in three matches. Homer converted to leave Bath trailing 7-16 at half-time.

The home side were unable to regroup at the interval and Bath were firmly in the contest with another score from Mafi. The visitors drove to the line from a lineout and again Mafi, at the back of the maul, touched down. Homer added the extras.

Bath's momentum was halted on 48 minutes when Max Lahiff was sent to the sin bin for an infringement at the scrum, their 15th yellow card of the season.

Exeter got some respite when Steenson bisected the posts from 30 metres, Bath's indiscipline in their own half a theme throughout the 80 minutes. Bath were back within two as the game moved into the final 10 minutes, Homer keeping his cool to slot through the posts.

With three minutes to play Exeter finally secured victory, beating Bath at their own game. They drove for the line after a five metre lineout and Kai Horstmann was carried over. Steenson added the extras to bring up 1,000 points for the club and seal only a second win for Exeter against Bath in their last 12 meetings.

Scorers:

For Exeter Chiefs:

Tries: Whitten, Horstmann

Cons: Steenson 2

Pens: Steenson 4

For Bath:

Tries: Mafi 2

Cons: Homer 2

Pen: Homer

Yellow card: Max Lahiff (Bath, 48)

Teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain), 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Jonny Hill, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.

Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Alex Brown, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Max Bodilly.

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Leroy Houston, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Max Lahiff.

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 David Wilson, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Matt Garvey, 21 Guy Mercer, 22 Jonathan Evans, 23 Max Clark.

Referee: Gregory Garner

Leicester Tigers 47-20 London Irish

Freddie Burns had already twice kicked for the corner as the driving maul got a roll on and when the ball was spread right, Mathew Tait fed Thompstone who scored. Burns missed the extras.

Theo Brophy-Clews slotted a penalty for the Exiles soon after to trim the lead but that was about as good as it got for Irish in a one-sided half. The second try went to Thacker – promoted to start at hooker after Tom Youngs' late withdrawal – as he collected Burns' offload to score.

This time Burns found his range with the conversion and with a quarter of an hour played the home side were 12-3 up. The Tigers pack clearly smelled blood and it was McCaffrey who got the third try, barging over from a lineout move after Kitto's crisp pass.

The fourth try and the bonus point were wrapped up before the break. Burns again to the fore as he stepped clear, fed Mike Fitzgerald who in turn offloaded to Kitto for his first Tigers try under the posts.

Irish held out for the first 10 minutes of the second period but Tigers soon had their fifth score and it was superb hands that created it. Thacker's slick offload, Tuilagi's over-the-head pass and de Villiers' scoop back inside releasing Croft to bash over.

Kitto was denied his second soon after by the TMO, who spotted a forward pass and Irish finally summoned a response just before the hour mark. Paice smashing over from close range for their first try.

Shane Geraghty missed the conversion and Tigers did not let up at the other end, de Villiers cutting back against the grain to grab a try on his first Tigers start. In the final 10 minutes, Thompstone dived over for his second of the afternoon, replacement Tommy Bell adding the extras for a 47-8 lead.

There was still time for Irish to grab two consolation scores before the final whistle as Trayfoot and Fenby both restored a bit of respect to the scoreline.

Scorers:

For Leicester Tigers:

Tries: Thompstone 2, Thacker, McCaffrey, Kitto, Croft, de Villiers

Cons: Burns 5, Bell

For London Irish:

Tries: Paice, Trayfoot, Fenby

Con: Geraghty

Pen: Brophy Clews

Teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Telusa Veainu, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jono Kitto, 8 Ed Slater (captain), 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Marcos Ayerza.

Replacements: 16 Michael van Vuuren, 17 Riccardo Brugnara, 18 Logovi'i Mulipola, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Laurence Pearce, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Vereniki Goneva.

London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 11 Andrew Fenby, 10 Theo Brophy Clews, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Ofisa Treviranus 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway (captain), 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Will Lloyd, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Smallbone.

Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Jerry Sexton, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Johnny Williams.

Referee: Ian Tempest

Wasps 42-10 Harlequins

With little separating the sides ahead of kick-off, the tense atmosphere was apparent, as both teams made early unforced handling errors in the Coventry sun. The home side began to exert pressure onto the Harlequins defence, as a series of line-outs, deep in the visitors' territory kept the momentum firmly with Wasps.

That continued pressure led to Wasps taking the lead when Jake Cooper-Woolley picked the ball deep into the Quins' 22, and sneaked himself over the line, for the first score of the game, with Gopperth adding the conversion.

Straight from kick-off, a break led to good field position for Young's side and after a series of phases, neat handling allowed Christian Wade to dance around the defence to touch down, with Gopperth making no mistake, adding the extra points.

Harlequins needed a response and they got that moments later, as Luke Wallace seemingly forced himself over the whitewash on the end of a driving maul. The extra points were missed.

The Londoners were however the architects of their own downfall, as no sooner they had got themselves back into the game, Wasps responded with a third try. Wade's speed would once again cause the Quins defence nightmares as he broke into their half and the momentum allowed Wasps to gain ground and see Nathan Hughes touch down.

Gopperth was successful once again with the conversion, as Wasps went into the break in full control for a 21-5 lead.

Harlequins needed an early response in the second half but once again, errors in good positions thwarted any momentum, as they pushed to get back into the game. Conor O'Shea's side finally got their noses back in the game, when the ball was played across the Wasps 22, where Charlie Walker was waiting to pile over in the corner for the try with the conversion again missed.

Wasps were responding to everything that the away side were throwing at them and extended their lead when Thomas Young went over for a fine try, which was finally awarded after a lengthy look from the TMO.

Gopperth added the extra points to maintain his 100 percent record with the boot, as the home side edged 18 points in front. Wasps were now looking to put the tie to bed as Charles Piutau raced clear to add their fifth try, as a shell-shocked Quins were now looking to avoid a demoralising thumping, as Gopperth piled on the points with another conversion.

The Wasps pressure continued in the dying moments as they looked for their sixth try, which duly came as a Frank Halai break saw the ball offloaded to Brendan Macken who went over with Alex Lozowski rounding out the scoring.

Scorers:

For Wasps:

Tries: Cooper-Woolley, Wade, Hughes, Young, Piutau, Macken

Cons: Gopperth 5, Lozowski

For Harlequins:

Tries: Wallace, Walker

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Charles Piutau, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 Thomas Young, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 James Cannon, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).

Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Alex Rieder, 21 Jamie Stevenson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Brendan Macken.

Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Winston Stanley, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 James Chisholm, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 George Merrick, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rob Buchanan, 1 Mark Lambert.

Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Sam Egerton, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Matt Hopper.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys