Exeter clips Falcons' wings
*In the other matches, Sam James' stunning first half try helped Sale Sharks to a hard-fought home victory over Northampton Saints, who have now won just one of their opening three games this season.
*Telusa Veainu's debut try proved vital as Leicester Tigers saw off Wasps, to keep up their unbeaten start to the season.
We look at all Sunday's matches!
Newcastle Falcons 3-41 Exeter Chiefs
Mike Delany kicked the hosts into an early lead but that was as good as it got in a miserable first half for the Falcons. First Chudley charged down a Delany clearance, chased after the loose ball and dotted down when it sat up perfectly for him. Steenson converted and the Chiefs did not have long to wait for the second try, this time Salvi claiming his first score for his new employers at the back of a rolling maul.
Steenson again added the extras and the visitors were 14-3 ahead with only a quarter of an hour on the clock. The driving maul yielded a third try soon after, Armand this time the beneficiary but the Chiefs were showing brain as well as brawn and had the bonus point just after the half-hour mark.
Phil Dollman broke from deep on the counter attack, drew the last man and put in Jess down the right, Steenson striking the post with the conversion this time. The Chiefs were rampant and a fifth try before the break twisted the knife – Armand grabbing his second after fine work from Steenson and Henry Slade to manufacture the opening.
The Falcons stemmed the flow after the break but had little to show for their endeavours at the other end of the pitch. Belisario Agulla had a debut try ruled out by the TMO for a knock-on in the build up that the referee had missed, as the Falcons wasted a host of line breaks.
Ally Hogg broke clear just after the hour mark but lacked any support and the Chiefs forced a turnover to keep their try line unbreached. And up the other end, Low barged over from short range for their sixth try of the afternoon – and the first of his Premiership career – Steenson again converting for a 38-3 lead.
It was clearly not the Falcons day, Venditti then had a try ruled out for a forward pass and there was still time in the closing moments for Chiefs to put the icing on the cake – Steenson slotting a penalty as time expired.
The scorers:
For Newcastle Falcons:
Pen: Delany
For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Chudley, Salvi, Armand 2, Jess, Low
Cons: Steenson 4
Pen: Steenson
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Micky Young, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Nili Latu, 6 Will Welch (captain), 5 Calum Green, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Rob Vickers, 18 Taione Vea, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Ruki Tipuna, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Belisario Agulla.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Matt Jess, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain), 9 Will Chudley, 8 Don Armand, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Moray Low, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Thomas Waldrom, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Olly Woodburn.
Sale Sharks 20-13 Northampton Saints
Northampton's early possession gave a hint of the power of their driving maul but Sale managed to steal the advantage by winning a Saints line-out and forcing an error on the halfway line. An error after eight minutes of play gave Saints a line-out in the corner, and the first real chance of the game for points, but the Sharks held their line with Cipriani eventually clearing downfield.
In the 15th minute, the Sharks had a chance to notch the game's first points after Northampton came in at the side but Cipriani's kick drifted wide of the posts. A chance of redemption came within a minute however, Cipriani made no mistake second time round and the England flyhalf booted another three points in the 24th minute.
Northampton responded with 10 minutes left to play in the first half as Myler slotted a penalty of his own to narrow the deficit to 6-3. Mike Haley's excellent take from a high ball led to Sharks first dash for the line but an interception from Luther Burrell nearly gave Saints a breakaway try until, following Haley's tackle and failure to roll away, Myler drew his team level with a penalty kick.
But it was the hosts who went into the break ahead thanks to one of the tries of the season so far. After a great pass from Josh Beaumont, Sam James chipped the ball over Myler's head and collected to score in the corner – Cipriani converting to give Sharks a 13-6 lead.
Shortly after the break Addison collected Haley's up-and-under before slipping through the defence to score under the posts. After Cipriani converted, Saints responded swiftly with Jamie Gibson appearing to cross in the corner, only for the TMO to confirm that Chris Cusiter had dragged him into touch.
However, Northampton weren't to be denied and from their own line-out they worked the ball wide where Myler went over for his team's first try of the match, which he converted, after 54 minutes. Cipriani had the chance to increase Sale's lead with a penalty in the 68th minute but his effort flew wide and a messy period of play ensued, that saw both sides turning the ball over and making handling errors.
Nick MacLeod then missed the opportunity to put the game to bed with three minutes remaining as his penalty hit the post and Sale were almost punished. As the clock turned red Saints were awarded a penalty and worked the ball deep inside the home 22, only to knock on as they crossed the try-line, having to settle for just a losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: James, Addison
Cons: Cipriani 2
Pens: Cipriani 2
For Northampton Saints:
Try: Myler
Con: Myler
Pens: Myler 2
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Will Addison, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 TJ Ioane, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Jonathan Mills, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 James Flynn, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Magnus Lund, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Nick Macleod, 23 Sam James.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Tom Wood (captain), 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller,
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Christian Day, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Ahsee Tuala.
Leicester Tigers 24-16 Wasps
There were only four minutes on the clock when Goneva went over for the game's first try – the Fijian dancing over down the left having started the move with a break down the right a minute before.
Williams – handed his first start in eight months after a late injury to Tommy Bell – kicked the extras and it got worse for Wasps as they lost prop Matt Mullan to injury soon after.
Gopperth replied with a penalty but Williams hit two of his own as the battle at the breakdown intensified and Tigers opened a 10-point lead. Elliot Daly's thundering long-range effort trimmed the lead before Gopperth slotted his second to make it 13-9 with half an hour on the clock.
Christian Wade thought he had the Wasps' first try soon after but the it was ruled out by the TMO for an off-the-ball obstruction from James Downey on Williams. With a four-point lead at the break, the first score of the second period was always going to be crucial and it was the Tigers who got it.
Williams slotted another penalty to push the lead back out to seven points and Wasps' comeback hopes were not helped by a moment of madness from Gopperth before the hour mark. Chasing his own up and under – the flyhalf jumped dangerously into Mathew Tait and was given a yellow card.
The Tigers did not take long to make their man advantage count either – Veainu going over down the right after they had worked the overlap well – replacement scrumhalf Jono Kitto integral to the move. Williams missed the conversion but added his fourth penalty of the day moments later to establish a healthy 24-9 lead.
Late on – with 15 men back on the pitch – Cittadini barged over from short range for a consolation score but that was as good as it got for Wasps as the Tigers held on to deny them a losing bonus point.
The scorers:
For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Goneva, Veainu
Con: Williams
Pens: Williams 4
For Wasps:
Try: Cittadini
Con: Jackson
Pens: Gopperth 2, Daly
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait (captain), 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Mike Fitzgerald, 4 Mike Williams, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Fraser Balmain.
Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Seremaia Bai, 23 Telusa Veainu.
Wasps: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 James Downey, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.
