Farrell sends Sarries to the top

With a draw looking the most likely result, Farrell struck four minutes from time to settle a hard-fought game at Kingsholm.

There was little to separate the teams, although Saracens did score the only try of the game through Mike Ellery.

Farrell kicked three penalties and Charlie Hodgson one.

Gloucester had the more creative runners in Charlie Sharples and Jonny May, but overdid the kicking so the hosts had to rely on five penalties from Billy Twelvetrees for their points.

Danny Cipriani was among the try-scorers as Sale Sharks bounced back from last week's thrashing at Saracens to defeat Worcester 27-13 for their first Premiership win of the season.

Dean Ryan's promoted Worcester had claimed a last-gasp 13-12 win over Northampton seven days earlier, but they met their match in a determined Sale outfit at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Cipriani, overlooked by England for the World Cup, opened the scoring with a fine individual effort and a second try from openside flanker David Seymour sent the hosts in at the break with a 13-6 advantage.

Sale grabbed a third five minutes after the break through Josh Beaumont, but Worcester hit back with an effort from Jonny Arr before a last-gasp fourth home try from Johnny Leota sealed a bonus point win.

We look at Friday's results:

Gloucester 15-17 Saracens

Owen Farrell held his nerve from the tee at Kingsholm but Saracens owe much to a fine defensive performance as they saw off an impressive Gloucester.

Mike Ellery's third Premiership try of the season and a Charlie Hodgson penalty put Sarries in the ascendancy early on before Gloucester grew into the game.

Farrell took over kicking duties from Hodgson and slotted a penalty before the first half ended, while Billy Twelvetrees had slotted two of his own.

The Gloucester centre kept chipping away from the tee however and had his team in front on the hour, but Farrell kept his cool and kicked a further two penalties to Twelvetrees' one to seal the game late on.

And Saracens have the likes of Will Fraser and George Kruis to thank as their all-action efforts prevented Gloucester from sniffing out the whitewash.

This fixture last season could not have been any more dramatic, as James Hook's last-gasp penalty secured the win for Gloucester.

But there was more intensity than intrigue in the opening stanza – the hosts enjoying much of the possession and not getting the points to show for it.

Twelvetrees, who booted 29 points off the tee against Newcastle Falcons last Friday, did have an early penalty chance but he miscued horribly after catching the turf.

And in the 14th minute, Sarries' first real chance turned out to be a points-scoring one – Richard Wigglesworth's quick distribution following a line-out the key, before a lurking Ellery piled over in the left corner.

Charlie Hodgson was off-target with the conversion and Gloucester responded well, though with Sione Kalamafoni in on the charge Jackson Wray ripped the ball away.

Nick Tompkins was throwing his weight around with ball in hand for Sarries at the other end and under pressure, Gloucester conceded a penalty which Hodgson made no mistake firing over.

The Cherry & Whites were pounding on the door in the 25th minute with a rolling maul and though Saracens repelled that effort, the hosts won a scrum against the head. Twelvetrees promptly got Gloucester off the mark with the penalty.

England No.8 Ben Morgan then came alive with a bullocking run and Twelvetrees had clearly sorted out his kicking radar with a sublime penalty after Chris Ashton failed to roll away.

With the final action of the half however Farrell stretched Sarries' lead back to five with his own fine effort.

It continued tit-for-tat in the second half and the back-rowers were quite literally stealing the show, with fine work at the breakdown resulting in Fraser and Matt Kvesic turnovers.

And Gloucester should have been over the whitewash in the 50th minute, but Twelvetrees chose to carry into the tackle with Jonny May in space on the wing.

Twelvetrees was still proving effective with the boot, bringing Gloucester to within two after Saracens killed the ball a metre out.

The away side continued to look threatening in spells, Ellery and Tompkins in particular, though it was Twelvetrees who completed another penalty on the hour to edge Gloucester in front for the first time.

The game could not have been more finely poised and Farrell put Saracens on charge again in the 67th minute, nailing a penalty from 40 metres after an infringement in the line-out.

But anything Farrell could do, Twelvetrees could do just as well as his long-distance penalty with five minutes remaining sneaked over the bar.

Some more brilliant breakdown work from Fraser almost immediately from the restart though presented Farrell with another chance and the England fly-half maintained his cool.

Saracens were spot on with their discipline in the dying embers, and Al Hargreaves stole the ball away to all but settle a fascinating clash.

The scorers:

For Gloucester:

Pens: Twelvetrees 5

For Saracens:

Try: Ellery

Pens: Hodgson, Farrell 3

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Charlie Sharples, 14 David Halaifonua, 13 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 12 Bill Meakes, 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Lewis Ludlow, 5 Sione Kalamafoni, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Steve McColl, 23 Rob Cook.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Mike Ellery, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil De Kock, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Mako Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Alistair Hargreaves, 20 Will Fraser, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nils Mordt, 23 Ben Ransom.

Referee: Matt Carley

Assistant referees: Simon Harding, Roy Maybank

TMO: Stuart Terheege

Sale Sharks 27-13 Worcester Warriors

Sale Sharks bounced back from a hefty opening-weekend defeat to see off Premiership new boys Worcester Warriors on home soil.

Sale were beaten 41-3 by reigning champions Saracens in their opener, while the Warriors upset Northampton Saints 13-12 at Sixways.

However, Steve Diamond's side are notoriously hard to conquer at the AJ Bell Stadium – having lost only once at home in the league in 2015 – and Danny Cipriani got them off to a flying start with the opening try.

Back row duo David Seymour and Josh Beaumont added further tries either side of the break, before Warriors scrum-half Jonny Arr hit back with a score of his own.

But, while the visitors may have sensed an opportunity to draw level, or even win it, Johnny Leota scored late on to deny them a losing bonus point – and hand the hosts maximum points.

A string of early errors from the Warriors gave Sale the forward momentum as they drove their visitors back and allowed Cipriani to fly over the try line in the seventh minute of play.

Worcester's first points of the game came after 17 minutes courtesy of Ryan Mills' boot, the 23-year-old firing a mammoth effort between the posts from 50 metres out.

The Warriors were awarded another halfway-line penalty with 12 minutes left in the half and Mills pointed to the posts once more before handing them the lead for the first time.

That lead only lasted a couple of minutes, however, as Seymour grabbed Sale's second try, capitalising on a five-metre line-out drive to pile over – though Cipriani missed the extras again.

However, the Sale fly-half steadied his nerves from the tee after the clock ticked into the red, tapping over a penalty from in front of the posts to earn a 13-6 lead at the break.

The second half got off to a flying start as Chris Cusiter, Cipriani and Tom Arscott took advantage of Worcester's weak scrum and pelted for the line.

A high ball was intercepted but knocked on by Worcester and Sale capitalised with a try beside the posts for Beaumont, which Cipriani converted with less than four minutes of the half gone.

Worcester sought a way back into the contest and enjoyed a moment of flowing brilliance from Tom Biggs as the match entered its final quarter.

The first threat to the Sale try line led to a Worcester put-in at the scrum on Sale's five metre line and that pressure finally led to points as Arr popped over for a 65th-minute try, which Ryan Lamb converted.

Sale battered at the Worcester defence, with a fast-moving Arscott taken down inches from the try line; the Sharks unable to add to their seven-point lead as the game entered the last five minutes.

But, as the clock turned red, Sale put together their best attacking play of the half and Leota scored right between the posts – the TMO confirmed the try and Cipriani wrapped things up with the conversion.

The scorers:

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: Cipriani, Seymour, Beaumont, Leota

Cons: Cipriani 2

Pen: Cipriani

For Worcester Warriors:

Try: Arr

Con: Lamb

Pens: Mills 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 David Seymour, 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 TJ Ioane, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Nick Macleod, 23 Sam James.

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Tom Biggs, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze (captain), 7 Marco Mama, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.

Replacements: 16 Dan George, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Joe Rees, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Ben Howard.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Greg Garner, Paul Burton

TMO: Trevor Fisher

Source: @premrugby