Saints take back top spot
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James Wilson scored twice as Northampton Saints returned to the top of the Premiership table, after fending off a second-half Saracens fightback at Allianz Park 31-24.
Saracens' famed 'wolf pack' defence struggled to live with the intensity of Northampton and their scrum dominance as the visitors built up an early 22-3 lead, with two tries from Wilson and one from Phil Dowson.
Jackson Wray's try on the stroke of half-time hinted at a comeback for the home side, but despite Chris Wyles' two second half scores Northampton ultimately prevailed and became the first visiting team to score more than 30 points at Allianz Park.
Meanwhile, Two Harry Thacker tries helped Leicester Tigers to a scrappy Premiership victory 26-5 over bottom-side London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium.
The Exiles took a surprise lead against the run of play through Nick Scott, but Thacker's double gave the visitors a 12-5 lead at half time with Freddie Burns struggling with the boot.
And Leicester tightened the screws after half time with Graham Kitchener and Robert Barbieri going over to give the visitors the bonus point victory they came for.
The Tigers put pressure on the Exiles' scrum from the off, and were rewarded in the fifth minute when they were awarded a penalty just inside the Welsh half, although Burns' kick drifted right of the posts.
The home side did not get out of their own half until the 20th minute but sloppy handling from Leicester cost them the start they were after, knocking on several times inside the Welsh 22 during the opening quarter of an hour.
All the scores and scorers:
Northampton Saints 31-24 Saracens
Scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Wray, Wyles 2
Pens: Hodgson 3
For Northampton:
Tries: Wilson 2, Dowson
Cons: Myler 2
Pens: Myler 4
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode; 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle; 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola 7 Will Fraser, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Ernst Joubert, 22 Neil de Kock, 23 Ben Ransom.
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 (captian), 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 Teimana Harrison, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Joel Hodgson, 22 Dom Waldouck, 23 Howard Packman.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Ross Campbell
TMO: Graham Hughes
Leicster Tigers 26-5 London Welsh
Scorers:
For London Welsh:
Try: Scott
For Leicester:
Tries: Thacker 2, Kitchener, Barbieri
Cons: Bell 3
London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (captain), 11 Nick Scott, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Rob Lewis, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Peter Browne, 5 James Down, 4 Matt Corker, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Nathan Vella, 1 Ricky Reeves.
Replacements: 16 Koree Britton, 17 Nathan Tevett, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Dean Schofield, 20 Ben Pienaar, 21 Paul Rowley, 22 Will Robinson, 23 Elliot Kear.
Leicester: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 David Mele, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Brad Thorn (captain), 3 Dan Cole, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Michele Rizzo.
Replacements: 16 Jake Farnworth, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Robert Barbieri, 20 Laurence Pearce, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Mathew Tait.
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Gordon Goodliffe, Simon Mcconnell
TMO: David Grashoff
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