PREMIERSHIP: Sale under pressure after final round results

PREMIERSHIP SUNDAY WRAP: Sale Sharks have been pushed out of the top four in the Premiership standings after Bristol recorded a 36-7 bonus-point win over London Irish in London in the final round of the 2019/20 season.

Bristol, who moved to third in the standings, secured their place in the play-offs. Bath are in fourth place after they drew 17-17 with Saracens.

Wasps smashed an under-strength Exeter Chiefs side 46-5 at the Ricoh Arena to secure a home semifinal.

Sale are now in fifth place, three points behind Bath. Sale will now have to beat Worcester Warriors in a game that has been postponed until October 7 due to a significant amount of COVID-19 cases in the Sale camp.

If that game takes place – it is subject to stringent retesting – and Sale win then they will overtake Bath for a semifinal spot.

If Sale wins with a bonus point, then they will travel to Wasps.

In Sunday’s other match Harlequins gave Chris Robshaw the perfect send-off with a 32-26 win over Leicester Tigers at Welford Road.

Northampton had to forfeit their trip to Gloucester, with a 20-0 victory being awarded to the hosts. Sale had beaten Northampton on Tuesday and a number of the Saints squad have been forced to self-isolate due to their contact with Sale players.

As a result, Northampton had an insufficient number of front row players available to start the match against Gloucester.

So here’s how it stands after a hectic day with one game potentially remaining…@WaspsRugby secure a home semi-final 🐝@BristolBears jump into 3️⃣rd after @Saracens force a draw with @bathrugby 🐻

And Bath wait on the @SaleSharksRugby outcome…#GallagherPrem https://t.co/S6sshfsGpS

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) October 4, 2020

London Irish 7-36 Bristol Bears

The scorers:

For London Irish:
Try: Hassell-Collins
Con: Jackson

For Bristol Bears:
Tries: Radradra, Earl, Thacker, Penalty Try, Capon
Cons: Malins 3
Pen: Malins

Yellow card: Ben Donnell (London Irish, 75)

Teams:

London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Phil Cokanasiga, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Jack Cooke, 6 Matt Rogerson (captain), 5 Chunya Munga, 4 George Nott, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Allan Dell.
Replacements: 16 Matt Cornish, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Ben Donnell, 21 Ben Meehan, 22 Ross Neal, 23 James Stokes

Bristol Bears: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Siale Piutau (captain), 11 Piers O’Conor, 10 Max Malins, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Chris Vui, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore.
Replacements: 16 Will Capon, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Mitch Eadie, 20 Fitz Harding, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Sam Bedlow.

Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal & Simon Harding.
TMO: Nigel Carrick.

Wasps 46-5 Exeter Chiefs

The scorers:

For Wasps:
Tries: Gopperth, Umaga, Robson, Bassett, Vellacott 2
Cons: Gopperth 4, Miller
Pens: Gopperth 2

For Exeter Chiefs:
Try: Southworth

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Matteo Minozzi, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Dan Robson (captain), 8 Tom Willis, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Brad Shields, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Simon McIntyre.
Replacements: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Tom West, 18 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Alfie Barbeary, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Michael Le Bourgeois, 23 Rob Miller

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Tom Wyatt, 13 Corey Baldwin, 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Charlie Wright, 7 Don Armand (captain), 6 Richard Capstick, 5 Dave Dennis, 4 Will Witty, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Jack Innard, 1 James Kenny.
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Danny Southworth, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Tom Price, 20 Lewis Pearson, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Jack Walsh, 23 James Short.

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales & Jonathan Healy.
TMO: Trevor Fisher

Saracens 17-17 Bath

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Penalty Try, Swinson
Con: M Vunipola
Pen: M Vunipola

For Bath:
Tries: Obano, Spencer
Cons: Priestland 2
Pen: Priestland

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Dom Morris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Manu Vunipola, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Callum Hunter-Hill, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George (captain), 1 Sam Crean.
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Joel Kpoku, 20 Janco Venter, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Harry Sloan, 23 Rotimi Segun.

Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Charlie Ewels (captain), 4 Josh McNally, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano.
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Joe Cokanasiga.

Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys & Paul Dix.
TMO: Luke Pearce.

Leicester Tigers 26-32 Harlequins

The scorers:

For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Youngs, Nadolo, Scott
Con: Ford
Pens: Ford 3

For Harlequins:
Tries: Dombrandt, Marchant 2, Lang
Cons: Herron 3
Pens: Herron 2

Teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Kobus van Wyk, 13 Kini Murimurivalu, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Luke Wallace, 5 Calum Green, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (captain), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Nephi Leatigaga, 19 Blake Enever, 20 Thom Smith, 21 Jack Van Poortvliet, 22 Zack Henry, 23 Jaco Taute

Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Joe Marchant, 13 James Lang, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Nathan Earle, 10 Brett Herron, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Will Evans, 6 Chris Robshaw (captain), 5 Glen Young, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 George Head, 1 Jordan Els
Replacements: 16 Jack Musk, 17 Marc Thomas, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Ben Tapuai, 23 Louis Lynagh

Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant Referees: Mike Hudson & Gareth Holsgrove.
TMO: David Grashoff.