Strugglers Newcastle shock Exiles
A 14-man Newcastle Falcons side gave their survival hopes a major boost with a much needed 19-10 triumph over London Irish in the Aviva Premiership on Saturday.
The reliable boot of Kiwi flyhalf Jimmy Gopperth and an intercept try by wing Ryan Shortland was enough to give the Falcons the victory.
The task was made more difficult for Newcastle after South African lock Adriaan Fondse was shown a straight red card, but the team showed their determination to claim the win.
Meanwhile, Northampton Saints closed the gap on the top two sides in the Premiership by beating Sales 24-17 at Franklin’s Gardens.
Flyhalf Stephen Myler landed seven of his eight shots at goal as Sale found themselves at the mercy of referee Greg Garner’s whistle.
Sale were able to leave the Gardens with something to show for their efforts thanks to flyhalf Nick Macleod, who nervelessly slotted home his fourth penalty from 40 metres with the clock ticking down
Elsewhere, Bath were defeated 14-11 by West Country rivals Gloucester in a tightly contested affair, and Exeter Chiefs continues their push for a play-off place with an excellent 15-12 victory over London Wasps.
In the final match on Saturday log leaders Harlequins narrow edged past Worcester Warriors for a 16-14 victory.
Quins had to fight their way back into the match after falling behind early on, but a well worked rolling maul won them a penalty try and saw Warriors hooker Ed Shervington sent to the sin bin.
That proved to be decisive as Quins held on for the win and Worcester left with only a losing bonus point.
All the scores and scorers from the Saturday games:
Newcastle Falcons 19-10 London Irish
The scorers:
For Newcastle:
Try: Shortloand
Con: Gopperth
Pens: Gopperth 3
DG: Gopperth
Yellow card: Jonny Golding
Red card: Adriaan Fondse
For London Irish:
Try: Tagicakibau
Con: Homer
Pen: Homer
Yellow card: Richard Thorpe
Teams:
Newcastle: 15 Greg Goosen, 14 Tom Bedford, 13 Jamie Helleur, 12 James Fitzpatrick, 11 Ryan Shortland, 10 Jimmy Gopperth (captain), 9 Chris Pilgrim, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Will Welch, 6 Ally Hogg, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Rob Vickers, 1 Grant Shiells.
Replacements: 16 Michael Mayhew, 17 Jonny Golding, 18 Ashley Wells, 19 Andrew van der Heijden, 20 Taiasina Tu’ifua , 21 Will Chudley, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Ricki Sherrife.
London Irish: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Tom Homer, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Jonathan Spratt, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Dan Bowden, 9 Darren Allinson, 8 Richard Thorpe, 7 Kieran Roche, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Bryn Evans, 4 Nick Kennedy (captain), 3 Faan Rautenbach, 2 David Paice, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements: 16 James Buckland, 17 Clarke Dermody, 18 Paulica Ion, 19 Bob Casey, 20 Ed Siggery, 21 Marland Yarde, 22 Adrian Jarvis, 23 Paul Hodgson.
Northampton Saints 24-17 Sale Sharks
The scorers:
For Northampton:
Pens: Myler 7
DG: Lamb
For Sale:
Tries: Cueto
Pens: Macleod 4
Teams:
Northampton: 15 Paul Diggin, 14 Vasily Artemyev, 13 George Pisi, 12 James Downey, 11 Noah Cato, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Martin Roberts, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Soane Tonga’uiha.
Replacements: 16 Andy Long, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 MarkSorenson, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Ryan Glynn, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Tom May.
Sale Sharks: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou (captain), 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Andy Powell,7 David Seymour,6 Richie Vernon, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Andrei Ostrikov,3 Tony Buckley, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Vadim Cobilas, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Will Addison, 23 Luther Burrell.
Bath 11-14 Gloucester
The scorers:
For Bath:
Try: Biggs
Pens: Barkley, Heathcote
For Gloucester:
Try: Wood
Pens: Burns 2, Mills
Teams:
Bath: 15 Sam Vesty, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Ben Skirving, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Charlie Beech, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Guy Mercer, 20 Josh Ovens, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Matt Carraro, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Gloucester: 15 Jonny May, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Matt Cox 7 Akapusi Qera, 6 Peter Buxton (captain), 5 Alex Brown, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Will James, 20 Peter Buxton, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Ryan Mills, 23 Tom Voyce.
London Wasps 12-15 Exeter Chiefs
The scorers:
For Wasps:
Pens: Robinson 4
For Exeter:
Pens: Mieres 5
Teams:
Wasps: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Richard Haughton, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Nic Berry, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jonathan Poff, 6 Richard Birkett, 5 Marco Wentzel, 4 Ed O’Donoghue, 3 Ben Broster, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Zak Taulafo.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Tim Payne, 18 Simon McIntyre, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Paul Emerick.
Exeter: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Nic Sestaret, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Tom Hayes (captain), 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Neil Clark, 1 Hoani Tui.
Replacements: 16 Chris Whitehead, 17 Chris Budgen, 18 John Andress, 19 James Phillips, 20 Ben White, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Bryan Rennie.
Harlequins 16-14 Worcester Warriors
Scorers:
For Harlequins:
Try: Penalty try
Con: Evans
Pens: Evans 3
For Worcester:
Try: Benjamin
Pens: Gray
Yellow card: Ed Shervington
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 George Lowe, 12 Tom Casson, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Tom Guest, 5 George Robson (captain), 4 Ollie Kohn, 3 James Johnston, 2 Chris Brooker, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Tim Fairbrother, 19 Tomas Vallejos, 20 Will Skinner, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Ross Chisholm.
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Marcel Garvey, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Dale Rasmussen, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Danny Gray, 9 Shaun Perry (captain), 8 Blair Cowan, 7 Jake Abbott, 6 Sam Betty, 5 Chris Jones, 4 James Percival, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Ed Shervington, 1 Matt Mullan
Replacements: 16 Aleki Lutui, 17 George Porter, 18 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Ravai Fatiaki, 23 Errie Claassens.
