Saints crush Welsh to go top
Northampton Saints returned to the top of the Premiership table with a crushing win over struggling London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium.
There were seven different try scorers for the champions with Calum Clark, Stephen Myler, Samu Manoa, Jamie Elliott, Ben Foden, James Wilson and Ben Nutley dotting down.
Taione Vea and Nic Reynolds did grab second-half scores for Welsh but it was little consolation for a side who have now lost all 13 of their games this season.
Henry Purdy and Steve McColl touched down after the break as Gloucester arrested their recent slump with victory over London Irish in a cagey encounter at the Madejski Stadium.
With both sides struggling for form in recent weeks, a nervy first half saw the visitors take a narrow 3-0 advantage into the break through Greig Laidlaw's penalty.
The Cherry & Whites continued to threaten through their returning international halfbacks Laidlaw and James Hook, with the Scottish scrum-half landing another three points before McColl fed Purdy to race clear shortly after the interval.
Shane Geraghty wrestled the Exiles back into contention with three penalties but his efforts proved in vain as Hook produced a classy chip in behind for McColl to race on to and dot down late on.
Brian Smith's side are still without a home victory in Premiership this season and were ultimately subdued by a dominant Gloucester pack that helped end their side's run of three consecutive league defeats.
Meanwhile in the final game on Sunday, Sale Sharks battled their way to a tough 18-13 victory over Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park.
All of Sunday's scores and scorers:
London Welsh 14-43 Northampton Saints
The scorers:
For London Welsh:
Tries: Vea, Reynolds
Cons: Ross, Robinson
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Clark, Myler, Manoa, Elliot, Foden, Wilson, Nutley
Cons: Myler 4
Teams:
London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (captain), 11 Nick Scott, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Paul Rowley, 8 Lachlan McCaffrey, 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Pete Browne, 5 James Down, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Nathan Vella, 1 Ricky Reeves.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Ben Pienaar, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Will Robinson, 23 Alan Awcock.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 Tom Stephenson, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 James Wilson, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Phil Dowson (captain), 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 James Craig, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Sam Dickinson, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Dom Waldouck, 23 Ken Pisi.
Newcastle Falcons 13-18 Sale Sharks
The scorers:
For Newcastle Falcons:
Try: Socino
Con: Clegg
Pens: Clegg 2
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Braid, Leota
Con: Cipriani
Pens: Cipriani 2
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Rory Clegg, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Calum Green, 3 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 Alex Rogers, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Josh Furno, 21 Warren Fury, 22 Adam Powell, 23 Simon Hammersley.
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Luke McLean, 13 Jonny Leota, 12 Sammy Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Alberto de Marchi, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 Mark Easter, 20 Viliami Fihaki, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Nick Macleod, 23 Mark Jennings.
