Saints slay Wasps
James Wilson showed Northampton Saints fans that Ben Foden's time out for injury might not be so bad after all with a fantastic double-try showing in his side's 24-6 win over London Wasps.
Wilson and a rampaging Courtney Lawes in the loose were the stand-out performers in the match which continued Saints perfect start to the season and left Wasps with only one win so far.
A topsy-turvy first half for Wasps was seriously dampened by winger James Bailey suffering a suspected broken leg in the opening 20 minutes and a yellow card to Tim Payne with seconds to go.
But it was the second half where Saints began to run riot and combined some high pressure attacking with some very canny defending to make it a comfortable night at Franklin's Gardens.
The scorers:
For Northampton:
Tries: Wilson 2
Con: Myler
Pens: Myler 4
For Wasps:
Pens: Robinson 2
Northampton: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Dom Waldouck, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Tom May.
Wasps: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Chris Bell, 11 James Bailey, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Joe Launchbury, 4 Tom Palmer, 4 Marco Wentzel (captain), 3 Zak Taulafo, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 Sam Jones, 20 James Cannon, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Lee Thomas, 23 Elliot Daly.
Referee: David Pearson
Worcestor Warriors 35-11 London Irish
Worcester opened their Premiership account in style with a bonus point 35-11 success over London Irish at Sixways.
Tries from Aleki Lutui, David Lemi and Semisi Taulava set the Warriors on their way before replacement Jon Clarke's score in the final act of the game sealed the bonus point.
After a quick start in which the Exiles scored through Ofisa Treviranus, it was Worcester, under the guidance of flyhalf Andy Goode, who took control – eventually running out comfortable victors.
Irish had picked up their first win of their season the previous week as they beat Bath Rugby 29-22 having conceded 40 points in each of their opening three defeats.
Worcester meanwhile had picked up three defeats to add to their draw with Gloucester at Sixways a fortnight ago.
The scorers:
For Worcester:
Tries: Lutui, Lemi, Taulava, Clarke
Cons: Goode 3
Pen: Goode 3
For London Irish:
Try: Treviranus
Pens: Shingler 2
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 David Lemi, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Matt Kvesic, 7 Sam Betty, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Dean Schofield (c), 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Hayes, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 James Currie, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Semisi Taulava, 21 Ollie Frost, 22 Joe Carlisle, 23 Jon Clarke.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Steven Shingler, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Declan Danaher (capt), 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Alan Cotter, 19 George Skivington, 20 Alex Gray, 21 Topsy Ojo, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Jack Moates.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
