O'Callaghan sees red as Tigers snatch victory

It allowed Leicester Tigers, who left it late, to secure a bonus point Premiership victory at Sixways.

* In other Saturday action Exeter cemented their place in the Premiership play-off spots with a convincing win over Wasps, as Thomas Waldrom powered over for a hat-trick.

* JJ Hanrahan's late penalty earned Northampton Saints a hard-fought victory over Bath, as they edged a battle of the set-pieces at the Rec.

* Tim Visser grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Harlequins prolonged London Irish's wait for a first Premiership point of the season.

We look at all the Saturday action!

Harlequins 38-7 London Irish

Tim Visser grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Harlequins prolonged London Irish's wait for a first Premiership point of the season.

The Scotland wing has made a flying start to life at the Stoop and showed off his eye for the line at the Exiles' expense as Harlequins – who have now lost just one of their last seven home games – showed their cutting edge.

He crossed for the only try of the first half and added another shortly before the hour mark, 10 minutes after captain Danny Care had scored a try of his own.

Visser completed his treble ten minutes from time before Jack Clifford added some gloss to the scoreline with a fifth late on before Halani Aulika grabbed a consolation score.

Care orchestrated some early pressure from the hosts and Nick Evans drew first blood with six minutes on the clock after the Exiles were caught not rolling away.

They suffered a pair of setbacks in the following quarter of an hour, Sam Twomey and Ollie Lindsay-Hague each forced off injured, as a cagey contest waited patiently to burst into life.

Harlequins began to enforce their dominance at the breakdown and it almost paid dividends after half an hour, a turnover catching Irish cold and allowing Ross Chisholm – just on for Lindsay-Hague – to dash down the right touchline.

But Alex Lewington produced an excellent covering tackle on the try line and the TMO confirmed Chisholm's foot was in touch at the last second.

The try did arrive soon, however, and it was Visser who got it, skipping past Lewington to cross under the posts for his fourth try in five games and Evans converting.

The hosts took a 10-0 lead into the break and while they met a rejuvenated Exiles in the second half, stanch defence and a clinical visit to the Irish 22 soon saw that extended.

A smart George Lowe offload found Care on 47 minutes and the skipper crossed over unchallenged, fly-half Evans once again adding the extras.

Quins showed their cutting edge once again ten minutes later when Visser picked an incisive line and burst through an Exiles tackler to cross over.

Evans preserved his perfect record from the tee to make it 24-0 and leave Tom Coventry's side staring down the barrel of a sixth defeat in as many Premiership games this season.

Visser thought he had completed his hat-trick and secured the bonus point after 68 minutes, only for the TMO to rule that he had stepped into touch en route to the line.

But he didn't have to wait long to put that right, fast hands spreading the ball to Visser who evaded a pair of defenders to score – Evans on target once more.

Clifford capitalised on a rolling maul to dot down three minutes from time, Ben Botica converting, but the Exiles did ensure in the dying stages that they wouldn't go pointless, Aulika touching down with the final play of the match.

The scorers:

For Harlequins:

Tries: Visser 3, Care, Clifford

Cons: Evans 4, Botica

Pen: Evans

For London Irish:

Try: Aulika

Con: Brophy-Clews

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 13 George Lowe, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Nick Easter, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Sam Twomey, 4 James Horwill, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews. 20 Jack Clifford, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ross Chisholm.

London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Eoin Griffin, 11 Ashli Tikoirotuma, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Darren Allison, 8 Luke Narraway (captain), 7 Blair Cowan, 6 David Sisi, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 Eoin Sheriff, 3 Ben Franks, 2 Gerard Ellis, 1 Tom Court.

Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Ollie Curry, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Theo Brophy-Clews, 23 Sean Maitland.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Ashley Rowden, Simon McConnell

TMO: David Sainsbury

Worcester Warriors 20-29 Leicester Tigers

Worcester Warriors were left to rue Donncha O'Callaghan's red card as Leicester Tigers left it late to secure a bonus point Premiership victory at Sixways.

Having stormed into a 17-0 lead, Dean Ryan's Warriors side were slowly reeled in by the Tigers as ill discipline cost them dear.

Four yellow cards in all were handed out to Worcester by referee Wayne Barnes and two of them went to O'Callaghan, the former Ireland lock given his marching orders shortly after half time.

Scores from Wynand Olivier and Matt Cox had put the home side in front early on but Graham Kitchener's score before the break gave the Tigers a foothold.

And after the break, with O'Callaghan sent off and Gareth Milasinovich in the sin bin the Tigers eventually made their numbers count as Telusa Veainu went over.

Tom Heathcote kicked well for the Warriors to keep them in front but a penalty try and then replacement Lachlan McCaffrey's late effort sent the Tigers home with all five points.

The Tigers have now won 12 in a row over Worcester and this was their fifth from six league games to continue their fine start to the campaign.

The Warriors downed Northampton Saints at Sixways in the season opener and they made the dream start against the Tigers.

Heathcote had already kicked the Warriors into an early 3-0 lead when they went over for the game's first try – a fine break from Ryan Mills sucking in defenders before he offloaded to his centre partner Olivier to stroll over.

Heathcote's conversion made it 10-0 and when Mike Williams went off injured for the visitors, the Warriors were making it look all too easy.

They soon grabbed their second try – Matt Cox the beneficiary this time as he barged over from close range under the posts.

Heathcote again added the extras and Dean Ryan's troops were 17-0 ahead with only 22 minutes on the clock.

Another Tigers injury – this time to Greg Bateman – saw Tom Youngs introduced and the England star was superb with ball in hand as the Tigers sought a foothold before the interval.

But the same could not be said for his line-out work as, with O'Callaghan in the bin for illegally bringing down a rolling maul, the hooker missed his jumper at three close-range line-outs.

The unrelenting Tigers pressure was bound to take its toll however and before O'Callaghan could get back on the pitch the visitors hit back – former Warrior Kitchener barging over from close range.

Owen Williams potted the extras and the Tigers went in at the break only ten points down at 17-7.

The Tigers' comeback task got a whole lot easier almost immediately after the interval, a driving maul from the Tigers getting the roll on and when O'Callaghan was again penalised – referee Barnes was left with little choice but to send off the former Ireland lock.

When Milasinovich then saw yellow the Warriors were right up against it but the ten minutes with 13 men only yielded five points for the Tigers – Veainu scoring down the right.

And when Heathcote kicked the hosts back into a 20-12 lead, the improbable Warriors win seemed on the cards.

But the Tigers pack turned the screw late on, and a penalty try – with Cox earning the fourth yellow card of the day – put the Tigers in front for the first time before McCaffrey sealed a four-try bonus point at the death, denying the plucky Warriors a losing one in the process.

The scorers:

For Worcester Warriors:

Tries: Olivier, Cox

Cons: Heathcote 2

Pens: Heathcote 2

For Leicester Tigers:

Tries: Kitchener, Veainu, Penalty try, McCaffrey

Cons: Williams 3

Pen: Williams

Yellow cards: Donncha O'Callaghan (Worcester Warriors, 26 and 42), Gareth Milasinovich (Worcester Warriors, 47), Matt Cox (Worcester Warriors, 72),

Red card: Donncha O'Callaghan (Worcester Warriors, 42 – two yellow cards)

Teams:

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Phil Dowson (captain), 7 Sam Betty, 6 Matt Cox, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Joe Rees, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.

Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Marco Mama, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Ben Howard.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone , 13 Peter Betham , 12 Seremaia Bai , 11 Vereniki Goneva , 10 Owen Williams, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Tom Croft, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Ed Slater (captain), 3 Dan Cole, 2 Greg Bateman, 1 Matias Aguero.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Matt Smith.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Andrew Pearce

TMO: Sean Davey

Bath 11-13 Northampton Saints

JJ Hanrahan's late penalty earned Northampton Saints a hard-fought victory over Bath Rugby, as they edged a battle of the set-pieces at the Rec.

The 23-year-old's kick was all that troubled the scorers in a tense first half of patience and penalties which was just about edged by Northampton's pack.

And it was Hanrahan who won it for Saints with a long-range penalty eight minutes from time, after Semesa Rokoduguni had cancelled out Luther Burrell's try in an entertaining second period.

Matt Banahan led the Bath side out on his 201st career appearance, but could not inspire his side in a nip-and-tuck first period.

Anthony Watson's dink through put Bath deep into Northampton territory on 14 minutes as the hosts put the ball through their hands, but they were penalised for bringing the maul down in Saints' 22.

Northampton wasted the opportunity to take the lead after 20 minutes with yet another penalty from the scrum, Hanrahan kicking to the corner only for his side to knock the ball back into touch from the front of the line-out.

But five minutes later the visitors made sure to get themselves on the board, when the scrum was reset three times before Northampton were given a penalty.

Hanrahan did the honours and read the wind perfectly to make it 3-0, and after another ten minutes of stop-start action Henry Thomas was finally yellow-carded for persistent infringements in the scrum.

With Bath down to 14 men, Saints hammered away deep in Bath territory, but knocked on perilously close to the line on 38 minutes to see the scoreline stay at 3-0 at the interval.

But the game came to life at the start of the second half with England fly-half George Ford in the thick of the action.

First the Bath man drew the scores level with his first kick at goal of the afternoon, successfully striking the 42nd minute penalty through the posts which were swaying in the wind.

But just five minutes later Ford had his head in his hands as he was caught in possession inside his own half, and under immense Northampton pressure his pass was intercepted by Burrell who ran in under the posts.

Hanrahan made no mistake with the conversion, but Ford did then reduce the arrears on 49 minutes with a penalty when Saints were pinged for illegally playing the ball at the ruck.

Alex Waller came on for brother Ethan after 52 minutes to make Premiership history, making his 100th consecutive appearance and becoming the first man to do so.

However there was nothing he could do a minute later to prevent yet another scrum penalty, but Ford's 47-metre effort fell just short of the posts to keep the score 10-6.

Bath were really starting to hit full steam going forward however, with Watson and Jonathan Joseph breaking well and looking dangerous, and after they were held up on 57 minutes they grabbed their first try five minutes later.

The ball was shipped wide to Rokoduguni and nothing was going to stop the wing going over in the corner, as he swatted Saints skipper Ben Foden aside on his way over the whitewash to touch down.

Ford could not beat the elements and squeeze his conversion through from the touchline, meaning the game was set for a grandstand finish at 11-10 with under ten minutes remaining.

A huge shove from Northampton's pack once more in the scrum allowed Hanrahan to put his side in front again from distance, and the gamble to kick from that range paid off for the visitors as they dominated possession in the closing stages to secure the narrow victory.

The scorers:

For Bath:

Try: Rokoduguni

Pens: Ford 2

For Northampton Saints:

Try: Burrell

Con: Hanrahan

Pens: Hanrahan 2

Yellow card: Henry Thomas (Bath, 34)

Teams:

Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Tom Ellis, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nick Auterac.

Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Dave Wilson, 19 David Denton, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer.

Northampton: 15 Ben Foden (captain), 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 JJ Hanrahan, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Ethan Waller.

Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 James Craig, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Ken Pisi.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

Assistant referees: Roger Baileff, Robin Goodliffe

TMO: Graham Hughes

Wasps 27-41 Exeter Chiefs

Exeter cemented their place in the Premiership play-off spots with a convincing win over Wasps, as Thomas Waldrom powered over for a hat-trick.

The Chiefs have made a flying start to the season and backed up last week's win at Harlequins with this success at the Ricoh Arena.

They scored six tries in all and fought off a stirring Wasps fightback to move top of the table before Saracens' clash with Newcastle on Sunday

Exeter showed their intent as early as the first minute, driving deep into Wasps territory and were awarded a penalty for offside with Gareth Steenson making no mistake in front of the posts.

With the wind playing havoc for both sides, Steenson's superb controlled kick into touch, right into the Wasps corner saw Exeter score the first try of the game.

From the resulting short line-out, Exeter drove for the line with Waldrom bundling over for the try with Steenson's conversion attempt missed.

Wasps were rewarded with a penalty of their own as Jimmy Gopperth reduced the deficit, but barely a minute later the home side shot themselves in the foot as Jack Nowell scored unchallenged in the corner.

England international teammates Henry Slade and Nowell combined to find a gap in the Wasps defence to increase their lead with Steenson adding the conversion.

In a pulsating game, Wasps responded again with a Gopperth penalty though it was the away side that was the more clinical.

In a mirror image of the game's first try, Mitch Lees went over for Exeter for their third score with Steenson converting.

Wasps were now like a rabbit in the headlights as Exeter pushed for the bonus point before half-time.

Once again the powerful Chiefs forwards drove towards the whitewash from another line-out with Waldrom adding his second try of the game, though Steenson's kick was wide.

The scoring wasn't done for the half as Wasps gave themselves a lifeline going into the break when a kick-through towards the Exeter line was fumbled by Nowell with Frank Halai the recipient, reducing the deficit. Gopperth added the conversion on the whistle as Exeter went in 27- 13 in front at the break.

The home side responded straight away after the break when Ashley Johnson went over near the posts as a fired up Wasps clawed their way back to just seven points behind with Gopperth successful with the conversion.

Moments later it was all-square as Lorenzo Cittadini went over after a break by Sam Jones with Gopperth levelling with the conversion.

Waldrom added his third try of the game to stop the Wasps momentum, again driving over from a maul with Steenson putting his side seven points in front once again.

And it was Exeter that got the decisive try as Moray Low forced himself over at the end of a rolling maul with Steenson adding the conversion to seal the win.

The scorers:

For Wasps:

Tries: Halai, Johnson, Cittadini

Cons: Gopperth 3

Pens: Gopperth 2

For Exeter Chiefs:

Tries: Waldrom 3, Nowell, Lees, Low

Cons: Steenson 4

Pen: Steenson

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Ben Jacobs, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Guy Thompson, 7 George Smith, 6 Sam Jones, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).

Replacements: 16 Edd Sherrington, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Alapati Leiua.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Ben Moon.

Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Moray Low, 19 Damian Welch, 20 Ben White, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Olly Woodburn.

Referee: Gregory Garner

Assistant referees: Kelvin Stewart, Nigel Carrick

TMO: Keith Lewis

Source: @premrugby