Sarries finish Warriors off in style

It was the perfect warm-up for next weekend's European Champions Cup final against Racing 92 as the league leaders – for the third time in the last four years – cruised to victory at Sixways.

In addition to Ashton's treble, Saracens also saw Neil de Kock, Samuela Vunisa and Ben Ransom cross while it was a tough end to a promising first season back in the top flight for Worcester. Andy Symons and a Cooper Vuna (two) scored the tries for Dean Ryan's side but Saracens proved too strong and will face Leicester Tigers in the semi-final in a fortnight's time.

*Wasps did their job with a 38-12 bonus-point win over London Irish but will still have to hit the road in the play-offs after Exeter Chiefs' resounding 62-24 victory at Harlequins.

Dai Young's men went into the contest two points behind second-placed Chiefs but it became evident early on that they would have to settle for third. That didn't stop Wasps ending the regular season in style, courtesy of tries from Thomas Young, Charles Piutau, Christian Wade, Dan Robson, Josh Bassett and Ashley Johnson.

Johnny Williams and Alex Lewington's tries in either half had given Irish hope but Tom Coventry's men were unable to give their fans something to cheer about, having gone into the match already confined to bottom place.

*A George North brace cemented Northampton Saints' place in next season's Champions Cup as they beat Gloucester at Kingsholm, ending the home side's hopes of elite European rugby next season.

The lead changed hands several times in a topsy-turvy first half but Saints eventually ran out winners after keeping Gloucester scoreless in the second half. An early Greig Laidlaw penalty was cancelled out by George Pisi's try but Gloucester hit back with tries from Lloyd Evans and Ross Moriarty before North's first effort narrowed the deficit just before half-time.

North had his second early in the second half and a Stephen Myler penalty was enough to secure an eight-point win.

*Semesa Rokoduguni's double and a superb George Ford kicking display saw Bath surge to a 38-27 win over fierce rivals Leicester Tigers in an enthralling clash. Richard Cockerill's side had already secured a 12th consecutive semi-final but were caught napping by incisive Bath back play – Rokoduguni racing over inside two minutes.

And though George Ford slotted a penalty, the Tigers combined serious ballast up front with potent finishing in the backs as Fraser Balmain, Peter Betham and Mathew Tait all crossed.

Bath had nothing concrete to play for, but cemented ninth-place and put in an attacking performance that bodes well for next season and though Will Evans gave Tigers hope, Rokoduguni, Ollie Devoto, Jeff Williams and captain Francois Louw all scored for Mike Ford's side in the second half.

Ford's men end the season on a bright note, while Leicester will face Saracens in two weeks time.

*Jack Nowell scored a hat-trick as Exeter Chiefs ran riot to book a home semi-final  against Wasps. James Short, Nowell and Dave Ewers crossed in the first half before Danny Care responded just before half-time.

But Exeter, who will host a Wasps side in the semi-finals they beat 24-3 just a week ago, raced out of the blocks after the break with a second Short try sandwiched between two Nowell scores.

Further tries came through Will Chudley, Julian Salvi, Phil Dollman and a sublime Henry Slade while Kyle Sinckler and Winston Stanley grabbed Harlequins consolations.

Ultimately it was a frustrating result for Conor O'Shea in his last home game in charge for Harlequins, who end the season seventh but can still qualify for the Champions Cup should they beat Montpellier in the Challenge Cup final.

*Sale Sharks booked their spot inside the top six at the expense of Harlequins, thanks to a battling 21-15 victory at Newcastle Falcons. The visitors led 15-10 at the interval with the boot of Danny Cipriani – in his final game for the club – separating the sides after Dave Seymour and Sam James' scores were cancelled out by Nili Latu's double.

And despite Latu completing his hat-trick with his third try from the back of a maul early in the second period, two penalties from replacement Joe Ford edged Sale clear in a nervous finale.

All the scores and scorers!

Gloucester 20-28 Northampton Saints

Scorers:

For Gloucester:

Tries: Evans, Moriarty

Cons: Laidlaw 2

Pens: Laidlaw 2

For Northampton Saints:

Tries: Pisi, North 2

Cons: Myler 2

Pens: Myler 3

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Ollie Thorley, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Elliott Creed, 10 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Yann Thomas.

Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Gareth Evans, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Lloyd Evans, 23 Jacob Rowan.

Northampton Saints: 15 Harry Mallinder, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson (captain), 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Campese Ma'afu, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 Sam Oliver, 23 James Wilson.

Referee: JP Doyle

Harlequins 24-62 Exeter Chiefs

Scorers:

For Harlequins:

Tries: Care, Sinckler, Stanley

Cons: Evans, Botica 2

Pen: Evans

For Exeter Chiefs:

Tries: Short 2, Nowell 3, Dollman, Ewers, Chudley, Slade, Salvi

Cons: Steenson 6

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Winston Stanley, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ross Chisholm, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Nick Easter, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 George Merrick, 3 Will Collier, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert.

Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Mat Luamanu, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Joe Marchant.

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Alec Hepburn.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Carl Rimmer, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Ian Whitten, 23 Olly Woodburn.

Referee: Wayne Barnes

Wasps 38-12 London Irish

Scorers:

For Wasps:

Tries: Young, C Piutau, Wade, Robson, Bassett, Johnson

Con: Gopperth

Pens: Jackson 2

For London Irish:

Tries: Williams, Lewington

Con: Brophy-Clews

Wasps: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Matt Mullan.

Replacements: 16 Edd Shervington, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Rob Miller.

London Irish: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Theo Brophy Clews, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Joe Trayfoot, 6 Luke Narraway (captain), 5 Matt Symons, 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Ben Franks, 2 David Paice, 1 Johnny Harris.

Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Leo Halavatau, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Rob McCusker, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Chris Noakes, 23 Ciaran Hearn.

Referee: Thomas Foley

Newcastle Falcons 15-21 Sale Sharks

Scorers:

For Newcastle Falcons:

Tries: Latu 3

For Sale Sharks:

Tries: Seymour, James

Con: Cipriani

Pens: Ford 2, Cipriani

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Michael Young, 8 Nili Latu (captain), 7 Dan Temm, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Will Witty, 4 Calum Green, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Rob Hawkins, 1 Rob Vickers.

Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Taione Vea, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Richard Mayhew, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Belisario Agulla.

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Sam James, 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Nev Edwards, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 TJ Ioane 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Cameron Neild, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.

Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Jonathan Mills, 20 Mark Easter, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings.

Referee: Matthew Carley

Worcester Warriors 19-43 Saracens

Scorers:

For Worcester Warriors:

Tries: Vuna 2, Symons

Cons: Heathcote 2

For Saracens:

Tries: Ashton 3, De Kock, Vunisa, Ransom

Cons: Hodgson 5

Pen: Hodgson

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Andy Symons, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Luke Baldwin, 8 Phil Dowson (captain), 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Sam Betty, 5 Dan Sanderson, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.

Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 James Johnston, 19 Charlie Hewitt, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Alex Grove.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson (captain), 9 Neil De Kock, 8 Samu Vunisa, 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington.

Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Titi Lamositele, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Hayden Smith, 20 Will Fraser, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Tim Streather, 23 Ben Ransom.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Bath 38-27 Leicester Tigers

Scorers:

For Bath:

Tries: Rokoduguni 2, Devoto, Louw, Williams

Cons: Ford 5

Pen: Ford

For Leicester Tigers:

Tries: Balmain, Betham, Tait, Evans

Cons: Williams 2

Pen: Williams

Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Will Homer, 8 David Denton, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nathan Catt.

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Dom Day, 20 Leroy Houston, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Jeff Williams.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Jack Roberts, 11 George Catchpole, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Will Evans, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Ed Slater (captain), 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Ellis Genge.

Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Greg Bateman, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Laurence Pearce, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 George Worth.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

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