Saracens too good for Chiefs
Semesa Rokoduguni's second-half double did the damage as Bath claimed a hard-fought win and a bit of history over West Country rivals Gloucester at Kingsholm.
Worcester Warriors took a huge step towards Premiership safety as they picked up four points in a 12-6 win over London Irish at Sixways.
Saracens 36-18 Exeter Chiefs
Both Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola crossed in the five-try bonus-point win, with Alex Goode and Chris Wyles scoring on what was both their 200th appearance for the club.
Jackson Wray was Sarries' other scorer, while Thomas Waldrom twice crossed for the Chiefs, who relinquished their grip on top spot with five rounds remaining.
Saracens welcomed back their England stars with Farrell, Mako Vunipola, Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje and George Kruis all returning for this top-two encounter.
An extraordinary wind was blowing in Chiefs' favour in the first half but Gareth Steenson couldn't capitalise to give his side the early advantage, missing a sixth-minute penalty from 40 metres out.
Itoje and Kruis, much like they did for England, combined to disrupt the Chiefs line-out in the opening exchanges, while Farrell's kicking game was taking a back seat due to the conditions.
An uncharacteristically disappointing recent run of form at Alliance Park had seen Saracens suffer defeats to Wasps and Northampton Saints but they got the first score through Goode.
Moving the ball almost 70 metres from inside their own 22, a series of line breaks saw Duncan Taylor stopped just five metres short of the line with Itoje taking the ball on to within a metre.
The ball was then recycled to Goode, who showed some great agility to step back inside and spin his way over the line for his fourth try of the season – his third in his last three appearances.
Farrell was thankful to his fullback for dotting down close to the posts as he dispatched the conversion for a 7-0 lead on 18 minutes, although he couldn't covert a penalty ten minutes later.
Saracens' offload game was in full flow with Goode again in the thick of it with a superb break, before Richard Wigglesworth was well tackled five metres short by Dave Ewers.
The ball was recycled to Wyles, although he also was denied just short of the line by Henry Slade, who pulled him into touch.
Saracens had their second try of the afternoon not long after though, this time Billy Vunipola with a masterclass of brute force to touch down.
The No.8 gathered a line-out before muscling his way to within six meters of the line. A number of phases followed before an excellent one-handed offload from Schalk Brits found Billy Vunipola, who took a helpless Olly Woodburn over the tryline with him.
Exeter finally got on the board a minute before the break after a Kruis infringement allowed Steenson the chance to nail the penalty, while he added another with the last action of the first half to cut Sarries' lead to six points.
A look at the first half statistics offered compelling evidence of Saracens' dominance – 239 metres made compared to just the 39 made by the Chiefs.
And the hosts were close to adding a third try early in the second half after another barnstorming break from Billy Vunipola, who went through Steenson as if he wasn't there before offloading to Will Fraser but Slade did enough to dislodge the ball before the flanker could dot down.
Brits was heavily involved in Sarries' third score, Farrell picking an exceptional line as the hooker popped the ball to him and the flyhalf went through a gap to score just right of the posts before converting.
It was the Sarries defence that was called into action next as Woodburn powered towards the line for the Chiefs, only for Chris Wyles to take the winger down with a fantastic tackle.
They were helpless to prevent Waldrom from getting Exeter's first try of the afternoon just before the hour though as he picked the ball up from the line-out and bullied his way over.
Typically, Saracens responded with the bonus-point score through Jackson Wray as replacement Neil de Kock provided the assist over the last defender for Wray to score under the posts.
A Farrell penalty and a Wyles converted score added gloss to the performance, although there was still time for Waldrom to grab his second try with the game's final action.
The scorers:
For Saracens:
Tries: Goode, B Vunipola, Farrell, Wray, Wyles
Cons: Farrell 3, Goode
Pen: Farrell
For Exter Chiefs:
Tries: Waldrom
Con: Hooley
Pens: Steenson 3
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Duncan Taylor, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Alistair Hargreaves, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Neil De Kock, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Mike Ellery.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Lachie Turner, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain), 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Geoff Parling, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Moray Low, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Max Bodilly.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Ross Campbell, Paul Dix
TMO: David Grashoff
Gloucester 12-17 Bath
With the scores tied at 12-12 late on, the in-form Semesa Rokoduguni wriggled his way over from close range for the decisive score.
Before then, the boot of Greig Laidlaw had kept the hosts in touch with a Bath side that had scored two tries through Chris Cook and Rokoduguni.
The in-form England winger now has six tries in his last four Premiership games and victory means Bath become the first team in league history to win three successive Premiership fixtures at the famous old ground.
Gloucester came into the clash with only one defeat at Kingsholm since October and started on top.
Two quickfire penalties from Laidlaw – on his return from Six Nations duties with Scotland – opened a 6-0 inside the first ten minutes.
The visitors were starting to click into gear however, a searing Anthony Watson break from fullback putting them on the front foot.
And in the 14th minute they had the game's first try – Henry Thomas bouncing off two tacklers to burst clear and feed Cook on the inside and the scrum-half raced under the posts.
Ford's simple conversion put the visitors in front but it was short-lived as Laidlaw's third penalty of the afternoon came moments later for a 9-7 Gloucester lead.
And that was how it stayed until the break in tricky conditions – Ford missing a tough penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Bath's last four Premiership games have all been won by the home side but it was they who looked more dangerous from an attacking point of view at Kingsholm.
And soon after the interval they went over for the game's second try – Charlie Ewels making the initial burst before Ford's long pass to the right found Rokoduguni who stepped back inside the covering defence to dive over.
This time Ford could not convert from the touchline in the blustery conditions and the visitors led 12-9.
With the hour mark approaching the hosts re-established some dominance and while Francois Louw made a superb turnover on his own tryline to deny them – it was a temporary stay of execution.
The Gloucester scrum won a penalty soon after and Laidlaw made no mistake to level up proceedings.
Gloucester beat Bath 15-11 at the Recreation Ground in February, but have not achieved a season's league double over their near rivals since 2012.
In the final quarter both sides had chances to win it – Ford missing a tough penalty from the left – to set up a dramatic conclusion.
And after Bath looked to have wasted great territory with a messy five-metre scrum it was Rokoduguni who rescued them – powering out of two tackles before wriggling and stretching out to ground the decisive score and claim the local bragging rights.
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Pens: Laidlaw 4
For Bath:
Tries: Cook, Rokoduguni, Douglas
Con: Ford
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 David Halaifonua, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Steve McColl, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 Ross Moriarty 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Paddy McAllister.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Henry Trinder.
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 Dominic Day, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 David Wilson, 19 Amanaki Mafi, 20 Guy Mercer, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Horacio Agulla.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Andrew Pearce
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
Worcester Warriors 12-6 London Irish
In tricky conditions it was Tom Heathcote who kept his nerve to slot four penalties and punish Irish for their failure to finish their chances.
While the visitors looked the more likely to score a try, blowing two great opportunities, Worcester had that little extra and were able to keep the scoreboard ticking over while Irish had to wait until the closing stages to even get off the mark.
With the win Worcester secured a fourth straight victory for the first time in the top flight and now have a 16 point lead over Irish.
Worcester dominated possession and territory early on but could not turn that into points, missing one chance to take the lead when they went to the corner rather than kicking for goal.
The reason they went to the corner was that the conditions were proving tricky for kickers with a strong wind, and Irish also turned down a shot at goal after a scrum penalty.
Like their hosts, they failed to turn an attacking line-out into points, getting isolated after winning the ball initially.
Eventually it was Worcester who opened the scoring, Heathcote slotting a penalty on 27 minutes after some strong work from the forwards forced the infringement.
And when Johnny Williams strayed offside from a clearing kick a couple of minutes later, Heathcote stretched the lead to six points for the home side.
Irish had the chance to get back into it when Ryan Mills' clearing kick was charged down but after recovering the ball, the visitors knocked on in midfield and the chance went begging.
Trailing 6-0 at the break, Irish needed to respond quickly in the second half but missed two glorious opportunities.
First Blair Cowan couldn't hang on after a searing linebreak from Sean Maitland, and then when Williams sliced through as the visitors ran from their own 22, Ciaran Hearn knocked on with open field in front of him.
Irish kept attacking but couldn't fight their way over, conceding a penalty on the Worcester line just as it seemed they might finally open their account.
Instead it was Worcester who made it a two-score game, Francois Hougaard getting over the ball brilliantly at a breakdown to give Heathcote the chance to add three more.
London Irish had turned down an easy shot at goal earlier in the half, and when they earned another wide on the left they again went to the corner, with Worcester able to turn the ball over and clear their lines once more.
With 11 minutes to go Irish finally got on the board, Greig Tonks knocking over a penalty to at least bring them into losing bonus point territory.
However that was soon cancelled out by Heathcote, who looked to have made the game safe with five minutes to go.
Irish did at least secure something from the game with a penalty three minutes from time, landed by Tonks.
The scorers:
For Worcester Warriors:
Pens: Heathcote 4
For London Irish:
Pens: Tonks 2
Teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Na'ama Leleimalefaga, 18 James Johnston, 19 Dan Sanderson, 20 Matt Cox , 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Alex Grove.
London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway (captain), 5 Matt Symons, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Jerry Sexton, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Fergus Mulchrone.
Referee: Gregory Garner
Assistant referees: Robin Goodliffe, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Sean Davey
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