Sarries sink Bath to close the gap

 

Bath – missing Jonathan Joseph after his heroics at Twickenham on Saturday – found themselves behind to Chris Wyles and Jamie George tries before Semesa Rokoduguni hit back.

 

Chris Ashton soon extended Saracens' lead but Olly Woodburn and Rokoduguni's second ensured Bath, who beat Sarries at the Rec in October, would not go down without a fight.

 

However, Goode's boot ensured they took no points from North London and moved the hosts to within four points of Bath in the Premiership table.

 

Charlie Hodgson sent an early drop-goal attempt wide of the target and they almost had a try two minutes later.

 

After spreading the ball to the right wing, Ashton's chip-kick bounced awkwardly and struck the knee of the onrushing Alex Goode, bouncing beyond the dead ball line.

 

A superb break from inside his own half took Ollie Devoto up to the Sarries 22 after ten minutes but the hosts turned the ball over and Ashton ran it away to safety.

 

Tom Homer broke the deadlock with his first Bath points, sending a penalty straight between the uprights after Saracens were off their feet.

 

Hodgson did soon draw them level from the tee, Bath flank Francois Louw penalised for hands in the ruck within kicking range, and Wyles then gave them the lead.

 

A well-timed offload from Hodgson found Alistair Hargreaves and when the ball was recycled it found its way to the winger, who crossed over by the left touchline – though Hodgson's conversion went wide.

 

Goode was next to pick up three points, slotting a 40-metre penalty to extend Saracens' lead to eight, and they almost had more four minutes before the break.

 

Wyles showed great determination to beat Rokoduguni to a loose ball and after kicking towards the line and getting beyond Homer, the Bath fullback was adjudged to have fairly out-muscled him and prevented the try.

 

The hosts emerged from the break re-invigorated and after Goode calmly slotted his second penalty of the afternoon, George scored his side's second try.

 

Jackson Wray powered through a pair of tackles and when the ball was sent left, Ashton fed the hooker to bundle his way over – Goode converted.

 

But it took Bath no time at all to hit back, Devoto picking a superb line before offloading to Rokoduguni to coast over and Homer to convert – the full back's reaching 600 Premiership points.

 

Ashton got the try his performance deserved after 50 minutes and it was easy on the eye, Goode collecting Hodgson's perfectly-weighted pass, sending an accurate grubber through for the England wing to chase and then converting.

 

A scrum penalty on the hour earned Goode another three points but Bath enjoyed the better of the next ten minutes and eventually got their just rewards.

 

Woodburn collected a Kyle Eastmond pass and – despite the TMO being asked to check if Sam Burgess had blocked off a defender – crossed over for a try, converted by Homer.

 

Just two minutes later Eastmond made a lightning quick break at the halfway line and fed Rokoduguni out wide – he stepped inside to score and Homer nailed the tricky conversion to reduce the gap to seven.

 

Goode eased the nerves with another penalty and, in the process, denied Bath their losing bonus point.

 

 

Tries: Wyles, George, Ashton

Cons: Goode 2

Pens: Hodgson, Goode 3

 

Tries: Rokoduguni 2, Woodburn

Cons: Homer 3

Pen: Homer

 

 

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington.

Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 James Johnston, 19 Hayden Smith, 20 Ernst Joubert, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Tim Streather, 23 David Strettle.

 

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Sam Burgess, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Ollie Devoto, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nick Auterac.

Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Alafoti Faosiliva, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Micky Young, 22 Richard Lane, 23 Luke Arscott.

 

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Roy Maybank

 

 

Tom Arscott scored a pair of tries against his former club to ensure Sale Sharks kept up their interest in the race for the Premiership play-off places.

 

Winless London Welsh got the game's opening score through Rob Lewis, but two first-half tries from Tommy Taylor were added to by scores from Mike Haley, Will Addison and Arscott to provide a commanding lead.

 

Arscott grabbed his second shortly after the break, and Mark Cueto and Addison both crossed the whitewash late on to cancel out a consolation effort by Opeti Fonua.

 

The result leaves Sale in a promising position heading into their key clash with Saracens next week, while Welsh must recover quickly if they are to end a miserable losing run.

 

The Exiles started brightly in their efforts to record a first win of the season, with Lewis celebrating his 100th appearance for the club by gathering a loose ball inside his own 22 and racing clear to score inside three minutes.

 

Seb Jewell added the simple extras, but his side were pegged back almost immediately, Sale's pack producing a powerful shove in the scrum to win the ball against the head and send Haley over in the left corner, Macleod converting from a challenging position.

 

Another potent drive from the visiting forwards provided the platform for their second try on 14 minutes, Dave Seymour picking and driving before Taylor crashed over to score. Macleod was again on target with the kick.

 

Welsh looked to redress the deficit following Taylor's effort, enjoying a period of sustained pressure spearheaded by the devastating Fonua and a couple of attacking lineouts.

 

But they were made to rue their profligacy when Sale grabbed their third try of the afternoon through Addison, who was the benefactor from some good link-up play between Macleod and Sam Tuitupou in the build up.

 

Macleod, who was making his 100th Premiership appearance, continued a fine afternoon with the boot to stretch the score to 7-21.

 

Sharks hooker Taylor had not scored a try since the 2012/13 season before kick-off at the Kassam Stadium, but like London buses, he picked up his second of the game to earn his side a valuable try bonus point inside the first half.

 

And there was still time before the break for Arscott to finish off an efficient Sale counter-attack following some Welsh pressure in the opposition 22, with the score moving to 7-35 through two more successful Macleod conversions.

 

To the consternation of the Welsh faithful, the second half started as the first had finished.

 

Arscott capitalised on a deft chip from Haley to score his second of the day and his fifth against the Exiles this season following a hat-trick in the reverse fixture. The difficult position meant Macleod missed his first kick of the afternoon.

 

Welsh No.8 Fonua has been a standout performer all season for the Premiership strugglers, and he got his reward for the day by forcing his way over the Sale tryline in the corner to reduce the arrears, although replacement kicker Will Robinson was wayward from the tee.

 

Despite the deficit, the hosts continued to apply the pressure as time ticked away, although stoic Sale defence denied them any scoring opportunities from several attacking positions.

 

And unlike the Exiles, the visitors made the most of their chances, with veteran wing Cueto intercepting a wayward pass to run in a try from 70 metres and replacement flyhalf Joe Ford adding the extras.

 

Addison then went over in the final minute to cap a resounding performance from the Sharks, with Ford's missed conversion the final act of the game.

 

 

Tries: Lewis, Fonua

Cons: Jewell

Pens: Jewell

 

Tries: Haley, Taylor 2, Addison 2, Arscott 2, Cueto

Cons: Macleod 5, Ford

 

London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 James Tincknell, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Rob Lewis, 8 Opeti Fonua 7 Carl Kirwan (captain), 6 Richard Thorpe, 5 James Down, 4 Ben West, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Nathan Trevett.

Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Eddie Aholelei, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Ben Pienaar, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Will Robinson, 23 James Lewis.

 

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont. 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.

Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Maxim Cobilas, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Cueto

 

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth

Assistant referees: Darren Gamage, Peter Huckle

 

 

Quick-fire first-half tries from Tom Varndell and Elliot Daly set Wasps on their way to a comfortable bonus-point Premiership victory over Harlequins at the Ricoh Arena.

 

With Wasps 9-3 ahead thanks to the boot of Andy Goode, Varndell went over and was quickly followed by Daly as the hosts took control of the clash.

 

Wasps added two penalty tries after the interval as they eased to victory, Harlequins only having two Nick Evans penalties to celebrate all afternoon.

 

It was visitors Quins who started the game on the front foot, flyhalf Evans looking dangerous with both his boot and with ball in hand.

 

But it was Wasps who were first on the scoreboard after Thomas Young won a penalty at the breakdown and veteran flyhalf Goode sent the ball flying through the uprights on 13 minutes.

 

And just six minutes later the home side found themselves 9-0 in front, Goode adding two more penalties.

 

After 20 minutes Evans got Harlequins on the scoreboard with a three-pointer of his own, but just a minute later Wasps were celebrating the game's first try. Christian Wade showed great pace and speed to burst past two would-be tacklers before he was held up and the ball was whipped along the back line for Varndell to dot down, Goode adding the extras.

 

And just a few moments later Wasps were over the tryline again, this time Daly dotting down after a great drive by his forwards. Goode again converting and Wasps were 23-3 ahead.

 

Evans had a chance to get Quins back in the game but missed a 36th-minute penalty attempt, however he was successful with another effort on the stroke of half-time to peg Wasps back slightly at 23-6.

 

Wasps thought they had try number three four minutes after the restart as Nathan Hughes went over, but the television match official adjudged he had been held up.

 

However, the home side didn't have to wait much longer to add to their tally as they were awarded a penalty try on 48 minutes after Quins pulled down a Wasps drive illegally. George Robson was sent to the sin bin and Goode added the conversion for a 30-6 lead.

 

Despite being a man light Hareqluins grew into the game and Danny Care produced a good break down the blindside only to be halted by Wade and Joe Simpson.

 

And with ten minutes left Evans kicked to the corner as Quins looked to make their pressure tell, only for a knock on to end any hopes of that.

 

Wasps were also pressing though and with Jack Clifford in the sin bin the home side grabbed a bonus point two minutes from time with their second penalty try, replacement Alex Lozowski converting for a 37-6 victory.

 

 

Tries: Varndell, Daly, Penalty Try 2

Cons: Goode 3, Lozowski

Pens: Goode 3

 

Pens: Evans 2

 

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 James Downey, 11 Will Helu, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ed Jackson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Edd Shervington, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).

Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Tom Bliss, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Tom Varndell.

 

Harlequins: 15 Ugo Monye, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 George Lowe, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Jack Clifford, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Joe Trayfoot, 5 George Robson (captain), 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Mark Lambert.

Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Seb Adeniran-Olule, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Netani Talei, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague.

 

Referee: Greg Garner

Assistant Referees: Nigel Carrick, Ross Campbell

TMO: Trevor Fisher