Warriors in victorious Premiership return

Tom Heathcote's late drop-goal edged a thrilling 13-12 win over last season's table toppers Northampton Saints at Sixways.

In other Friday matches Billy Twelvetrees kicked 29 points as Gloucester held off a Newcastle Falcons comeback and Elliot Daly's late try wasn't enough to hand Wasps a first the Premiership round one win since 2011.

We look at all Friday's matches!

Harlequins 26-21 Wasps

Elliot Daly's late try wasn't enough to hand Wasps a first the Premiership round one win since 2011 as hosts Harlequins held on to kick off their season with victory.

Nick Evans kicked two penalties to Jimmy Gopperth's one before Wasps grabbed the game's first try as Jake Cooper-Woolley bundled his way over the line.

But the lead was short lived as home flyhalf Evans started and finished off a superb move as Harlequins headed into the break 13-11 ahead.

Harlequins moved further ahead shortly after the break as George Lowe went over, with Evans keeping Wasps at bay with a series of penalties.

Daly did touch down with three minutes remaining to bring Wasps to within five points of their hosts, but Harlequins held on for the win.

After some early adventure from Harlequins, Wasps grew into the game and after two line-out successes a powerful rolling maul almost had the visitors over but for a knock on, with referee Luke Pearce going back for a penalty which Gopperth sent over for a sixth-minute lead.

But that advantage was short lived as just moments later Evans split the uprights at the other end of the pitch.

And shortly afterwards the home side were in front as a clever kick through from Lowe left Christian Wade under intense pressure from Marland Yarde and Lowe and Quins forced the penalty which fly-half Evans duly converted.

But this topsy-turvy match swung back in Wasps' favour as prop Cooper-Woolley bundled his way over in the corner on 17 minutes after a strong break from Daly.

Gopperth sent his touchline conversion wide and on 26 minutes Evans showed him how it is done as the Kiwi started and finished a superb try for the home side.

Evans' initial chip over the top put Yarde into space, he found Karl Dickson and the scrumhalf's superbly weighted kick was collected by the home side's No.10 who added the extras for a 13-8 lead.

A Gopperth three-pointer reduced the arrears and after Yarde spilled the ball just three metres away from Wasps' tryline, Evans then hit the post with a penalty of his own.

Yarde was a constant threat but he still couldn't find a first-half try as he was hauled down just metres short again, Gopperth missing a penalty at the other end from 30 metres out as the hosts went in at half-time 13-11 ahead.

Harlequins didn't wait long after the restart to get on the scoreboard again as a neat offload from Evans saw Lowe dot down, the Kiwi fly-half adding the extras.

But Gopperth kept Wasps in the game with a penalty right in front of the posts and the visitors were painfully close to crashing over but Ashley Johnson was just short after a break from Rob Miller.

With time ticking down Evans slotted two three-pointers to push the home side 12 points clear.

But Wasps refused to lie down and Wade showed lightning footwork before a short pass inside saw Daly finish from 35 metres out.

Ruaridh Jackson added the extras and Wasps pushed for another score but Joe Marler secured a turnover at the death and Mike Brown was bundled into touch to bring on the final whistle, much to the home fans' relief.

The scorers:

For Harlequins:

Tries: Evans, Lowe

Cons: Evans 2

Pens: Evans 4

For Wasps:

Tries: Cooper-Woolley, Daly

Con: Jackson

Pens: Gopperth 3

Teams:

Harlequins: 15 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 George Lowe, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Nick Evans (captain), 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Jack Clifford, 5 Sam Twomey, 4 James Horwill, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert.

Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Nick Easter, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Mike Brown.

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Brendan Macken, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 Sam Jones, 5 James Gaskell, 4 James Cannon, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).

Replacements: 16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Paul Burton, Simon McConnell

TMO: Sean Davey

Worcester Warriors 13-12 Northampton Saints

Worcester Warriors made it a winning return to the Premiership as Tom Heathcote's late drop-goal edged a thrilling 13-12 win over last season's table toppers Northampton Saints at Sixways.

In a tense encounter, the hosts held a slender one point advantage going into the dying moments thanks in part to captain Gerrit-Jan van Velze's first-half try.

Debutant Heathcote had missed three penalties with Ryan Mills another and Saints then appeared to have made them pay when Stephen Myler converted his fourth successful penalty of the night with two minutes remaining.

But Scotland international Heathcote held his nerve with time up to clinch the win and bring an end to their visitors' record of winning their opening fixture of the season on each of the last nine occasions.

Saints handed starts to three of their off-season signings, with England prop Kieran Brookes, lock Michael Paterson and flank Jamie Gibson all making debuts.

Worcester were able to name former Saints back row forwards Phil Dowson and van Velze, who captained the Warriors, in their team.

Those men would be asked to play a key role in helping the Warriors adjust to their return to the top flight, but the Saints asserted their authority early on, keeping possession well.

And they were to get two early penalties on the board as their patient play put the squeeze on Worcester.

Luther Burrell's tackle on Tom Biggs was a particular highlight, with the Warriors wing forced to concede the second three points of the game.

Worcester responded well, winning a kickable penalty of their own, with Heathcote cutting the deficit in half.

The home side were causing problems for their visitors, with Biggs a real threat down the left.

Northampton turned down a kick at goal in the bid to score their first try of the season, but the Warriors defence was holding firm.

And they looked dangerous in attack, managing to break the Northampton resistance with a try from van Velze, who finished off a tidy move.

Heathcote added the extras and was soon kicking for the corner, emphasising the confidence his team were showing.

Northampton stood tall to ensure they would not fall further behind before the interval and they were soon adding another Myler penalty to their tally at the start of the second half.

Heathcote then missed the chance to restore his team's four-point lead, but Worcester were continuing to impress, piling the pressure on their opponents.

They were rattling Northampton, who could not get any territory, and the Warriors' only flaw was that their kicker was failing to hit the target.

Mills hit the post with a penalty before Heathcote fired another two wide, meaning he had missed all three of his attempts during the second period.

And Myler looked set to make him pay, keeping his nerve with a superb long-distance penalty to give Saints a two-point lead with a minute to go.

But after the away side knocked on, Heathcote was handed a drop-goal chance, and he took it to secure a stunning success for his side.

The 2015-16 the Premiership Season kicks off on 16 October. To see all of the fixtures click here.

The scorers:

For Worcester Warriors:

Try: Van Velze

Con: Heathcote

Pen: Heathcote

DG: Heathcote

For Northampton Saints:

Pens: Myler 4

Teams:

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Cooper Vuna, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze (captain), 7 Marco Mama, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.

Replacements: 16 Dan George, 17 Ryan Bower, 18 Joe Rees, 19 Darren O'Shea, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Alex Grove, 23 Perry Humphreys.

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Tom Stephenson, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson (captain), 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Jon Fisher, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Teimana Harrison, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Kahn Fotuali'i, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 George Pisi.

Referee: Gregory Garner

Assistant referees: Andrew Pearce, Paul Dix

TMO: Geoffrey Warren

Newcastle Falcons 27-39 Gloucester

Billy Twelvetrees kicked 29 points as Gloucester held off a Newcastle Falcons comeback to start their the Premiership campaign with victory at Kingston Park.

In a near-perfect first-half display from the Cherry & Whites, Matt Kvesic and Charlie Sharples crossed for tries while the boot of Twelvetrees put them into a 27-3 half-time lead.

But after the interval Simon Hammersley, Chris Harris and George McGuigan all went over for the Falcons as they closed the gap.

But the boot of Twelvetrees – who equalled the Premiership record with nine penalties in the match – kept the Falcons at bay and capped a fine week for the Gloucester skipper who signed a new contract and became a father for the first time.

Twelvetrees' first kick from hand went out on the full but that was not a harbinger of things to come as the Gloucester skipper was near flawless from the kicking tee in the first half for a dominant Cherry & Whites.

The Falcons have only won once in their last five meetings against Gloucester and they were their own worst enemies early on – two penalties conceded in kickable positions allowing Twelvetrees to open a 6-0 lead.

Mike Delany on his the Premiership debut reduced arrears briefly with a penalty of his own but the Gloucester pack soon allowed Twelvetrees to stretch the lead out to 12-3.

The skipper's fifth penalty attempt of the night did fall short but soon Gloucester had a try to celebrate.

John Afoa burst through a hole to make the initial break and when the ball was recycled close to the line Kvesic bounced off a tackle to go over.

The conversion was missed but Gloucester were rampant and they soon had their second try, this time it was Billy Meakes making the burst and feeding Sharples who finished expertly.

Twelvetrees added the conversion and a penalty on the stroke of half-time to leave the home crowd shell-shocked, staring at a 27-3 deficit after their first 40 minutes of the new season.

Twelvetrees continued to be metronomic from the tee, adding another penalty soon after the break but the Falcons had clearly had a rocket from Dean Richards.

Hammersely claimed their first score, the full-back scooping up a loose ball to race clear and dot down, Delany adding a conversion and a subsequent penalty to make it 30-13.

A Twelvetrees penalty pushed the lead back out to 20 points again but centre Harris then burst clear through the middle to dot down under the posts.

At 33-20 the Falcons faithful were hoping for a miracle, Twelvetrees again punished ill discipline but McGuigan then barged over at the back of a driving maul and with Delany's conversion the lead was back in single digits at 36-27.

But that was as good as it got for the hosts, a ninth Twelvetrees penalty ending their fightback and sealing Gloucester's first win on their travels since January and only their second at Kingston Park since 2008.

The scorers:

For Newcastle Falcons:

Tries: Hammersley, Harris, McGuigan

Cons: Delany 3

Pens: Delany 2

For Gloucester:

Tries: Kvesic, Sharples

Con: Twelvetrees

Pens: Twelvetrees 9

Teams:

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Tom Catterick, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Ruki Tipuna, 8 Todd Clever, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Richard Mayhew, 5 Calum Green, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers.

Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Josh Furno, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Micky Young, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Tom Penny.

Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Lewis Ludlow, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Jacob Rowan, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Sione Kalamafoni, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Jonny May, 23 Steve McColl.

Referee: Thomas Foley

Assistant referees: Andrew Small, Wayne Falla

TMO: Trevor Fisher