Sarries keep pressure on Tigers

PREMIERSHIP WRAP: Harlequins continued their miserable record on visits to Saracens as they suffered a 10-19 loss on Sunday.

Quins have not won an away fixture against their London rivals since 2012, when they triumphed at Wembley and this defeat was also a third straight loss for the reigning champions, following reverses at the hands of Sale and Bath.

Tom Woolstencroft and Sean Maitland scored tries for Saracens with Alex Lozowski adding three penalties.

Danny Care scored Quins’ try with Tommy Allan adding a penalty and a conversion.

Saracens began strongly to win two early penalties in the opposition 22 but declined kicks at goal in favour of attacking line-outs.

It paid immediate dividends with Woolstencroft crashing over for the first try after only five minutes.

Moments later, they should have had a second when Dom Morris seized on a loose ball to race away but the centre neglected to pass to the unmarked Maitland and went it alone before being tackled by Allan.

Quins had their first chance for points but Andre Esterhuizen’s penalty attempt from halfway went badly astray.

Morris then made another error by conceding a soft penalty to gift the visitors a platform in the home 22, from where Care sniped over with Allan converting.

However, the Quins pack were under considerable pressure in the scrums, conceding penalties at almost every engagement, and it came as no surprise when Saracens regained the lead with a neat round of passing sending Maitland in after 23 minutes.

Harlequins made a change at tight-head with Simon Kerrod replacing Wilco Louw and they drew level with a penalty from Allan to leave the scores tied at 10-10 at the interval.

With the conditions worsening, the opening period of the second half was error-ridden, with both sides struggling to bring any continuity to their play.

It looked inevitable that the next scores would come via penalties and they did when Lozowski was on target with two straightforward kicks in the 49th and 58th minutes.

One of the biggest cheers of the second half was reserved for Saracens favourite Jackson Wray, who came on for his first appearance since fracturing his skull in the game against Northampton six weeks ago.

The crowd had little else to get excited about as the fourth quarter finished scoreless apart from a 79th-minute penalty from Lozowski which deprived Quins of a bonus point.

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* In other weekend action Manu Tuilagi triggered a second-half surge on his first start for Sale since returning from injury as they defeated Worcester 36-12 at the AJ Bell Stadium.

Sale went in front early on through Sam James but was pegged back by the Warriors, who took a 12-10 advantage into the interval via Tom Howe and Niall Annett tries.

However, Tuilagi touched down to give his side the lead in the second half and they never looked back.

* Paolo Odogwu saved Wasps for the second week in a row with a quick-fire double as Bath saw their seven-point lead crumble after finding themselves down to 13 men in a 41-24 result.

Wing Semesa Rokoduguni was sent off in the opening minute of the second half for a high tackle but Bath made light of his absence until 14 minutes from the end when Tom de Glanville saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on.

Wing Odogwu, who had won the match at Exeter with a try six minutes after the countdown clock had reached zero, took advantage of the extra space with two tries in as many minutes before a double from Alfie Barbeary made the scoreline flattering for Wasps.

* Exeter bounced back after three successive defeats with a convincing 24-15 Gallagher Premiership win over in-form Gloucester at Sandy Park.

Gloucester had claimed 24 points from their previous six Premiership matches but their limitations were exposed by a fired-up Chiefs side, who were the better team in all facets of the game.

All the weekend scores and scorers!

Bristol Bears 32-49 London Irish

Scorers

For Bristol
Tries: Whiteley, Naulago, Strang, Challenger, Kerr
Cons: Whiteley, Eden
Pen: Whiteley

For London Irish
Tries: Phipps 2, Janse van Rensburg, Loader, Jackson, Pearson
Cons: Jackson 5
Pens: Jackson 3

The teams:

Bristol: 15 Henry Purdy, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Piers O’Conor, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Fitz Harding, 7 Sam Jeffries, 6 Steven Luatua (captain), 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Chris Vui, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Ashley Challenger, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Theo Strang, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Antoine Frisch.

London Irish: 15 Henry Arundell, 14 James Stokes, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps (captain), 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke.
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 George Nott, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Curtis Rona, 23 Kyle Rowe.

Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Joe James, Wayne Falla
TMO: Ian Tempest

Leicester Tigers 35-20 Northampton Saints

The scorers

For Leicester Tigers
Tries: Nadolo 2, Montoya, Hegarty
Cons: Burns 3
Pens: Burns 3

For Northampton Saints
Tries: Mitchell, Skosan, Wilkins
Con: Furbank
Pen: Furbank

The teams:

Leicester: 15 Bryce Hegarty, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Guy Porter, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 5 Calum Green, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 James Whitcombe.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Nephi Leatigaga, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 George Martin, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Matt Scott, 23 Chris Ashton.

Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Ollie Sleightholme, 13 Fraser Dingwall (captain), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 George Furbank, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Conor Carey, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Karl Wilkins, 21 Tom James, 22 James Grayson, 23 Matt Proctor.

Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Tom Foley

Exeter Chiefs 24-15 Gloucester

The scorers

For Exeter Chiefs
Tries: Innard, Schickerling, Woodburn, O’Flaherty
Cons: Simmonds 2

For Gloucester
Tries: Clarke, Carreras, Chapman

The teams:

Exeter: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds (captain), 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Santiago Grondona, 7 Richard Capstick, 6 Don Armand, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Patrick Schickerling, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Alec Hepburn.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Dave Ewers, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Facundo Cordero.

Gloucester: 15 Kyle Moyle, 14 Santiago Carreras, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Lloyd Evans, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Jamal Ford-Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Tom Seabrook.

Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Neil Chivers, Phil Watters
TMO: David Rose

Sale Sharks 36-12 Worcester Warriors

The scorers

For Sale Sharks
Tries: S James, Reed 2, Tuilagi, Langdon, Van Rensburg
Cons: MacGinty 3

For Worcester Warriors
Tries: Howe, Annett
Con: Smith

The teams:

Sale: 15 Sam James, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Aaron Reed, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Sam Dugdale, 6 Jono Ross (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Joe Jones, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 23 Byron McGuigan.

Worcester: 15 Jamie Shillcock, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Howe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Gareth Simpson, 8 Tom Dodd, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Ted Hill (captain), 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Matt Garvey, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Murray McCallum.
Replacements: 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Kai Owen, 18 Jay Tyack, 19 Joe Batley, 20 Kyle Hatherell, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Seb Atkinson.

Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Mike Hudson, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Craig Maxwell-Keys

Wasps 41-24 Bath

The scorers

For Wasps
Tries: Miller, Alo, Stooke, Odogwu 2, Barbeary 2
Cons: Gopperth 3

For Bath
Tries: Prydie, Faletau, Spencer
Cons: Bailey 3
Pen: Bailey

The teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Sam Spink, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Brad Shields, 7 Ben Morris, 6 James Gaskell, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Joe Launchbury (captain), 3 Biyi Alo, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Robin Hislop.
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom West, 18 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 19 Vaea Fifita, 20 Alfie Barbeary, 21 Will Porter, 22 Ryan Mills, 23 Marcus Watson.

Bath: 15 Tom Prydie, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Jaco Coetzee, 6 Taulupe Faletau, 5 Josh McNally (captain), 4 Ewan Richards, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Valery Morozov.
Replacements: 16 Tom Doughty, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Kieran Verden, 19 Josh Dingley, 20 Richard de Carpentier, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Max Clark, 23 Tom de Glanville.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Rob Warburton
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Saracens 19-10 Harlequins

The scorers

For Saracens
Tries: Woolstencroft, Maitland
Pens: Lozowski

For Harlequins
Try: Care
Con: Allan
Pen: Allan

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Dom Morris, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Manu Vunipola, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 1 Mako Vunipola (captain).
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Andy Christie, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Josh Hallett, 23 Alex Lewington.

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Oscar Beard, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Danny Care, 8 Archie White, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Matas Jurevicius, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Walker (captain), 1 Santiago Garcia Botta.
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Stephan Lewies, 20 Viliami Taulani, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22 Will Edwards, 23 Louis Lynagh.

Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Nick Wood, Paul Dix
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Sources: PA & RugbyPass