Saints strike late against Saracens, Quins end losing streak
WRAP: English Prem leaders Northampton snatched a 21-17 win against Saracens thanks to Archie McParland’s late try at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
McParland touched down in the closing stages to cap a dramatic clash in north London.
Fergus Burke had put sixth-placed Saracens in the driving seat with a 73rd-minute penalty after his team battled back from a 14-0 deficit.
McParland and Tom Litchfield crossed over for Northampton in the first half, with Fin Smith converting both scores.
Smith was forced off due to a head injury, and Saracens hit back through tries from Tobias Elliott and Theo Dan.
But George Furbank combined with Litchfield to set up McParland’s second try with just two minutes remaining.
Northampton are now six points clear at the top of the table.
Bristol’s play-off hopes were dealt a major blow in a 14-18 defeat against struggling Harlequins at the Principality Stadium.
Harlequins ended a run of six successive Prem losses stretching back five months, thanks to tries from Alex Dombrandt and Rodrigo Isgro.
Jarrod Evans kicked a penalty, and Jamie Benson converted Isgro’s score before landing a 79th-minute penalty.
Fitz Harding and Steven Luatua scored Bristol’s tries, and James Williams converted both, but they still slipped seven points behind fourth-placed Exeter with six games left.
Jamie Blamire scored two tries as Leicester routed Gloucester 36-17 at Villa Park.
Will Wand, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Orlando Bailey and Harry Wells were Leicester’s try scorers, with Billy Searle adding two conversions and James O’Connor one.
Matias Alemanno, Will Joseph and Dian Bleuler scored Gloucester’s tries, one of which Charlie Atkinson converted.
The win kept Leicester in third place, with Gloucester stuck on just two wins from 12 league matches.
Gloucester 17-36 Leicester Tigers
Scorers
For Gloucester:
Tries: Alemanno, Joseph, Bleuler
Con: Atkinson
For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Wand, Hamer-Webb, Blamire, Bailey, Wells
Cons: Searle 2, O’Connor
Teams
Gloucester: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Will Joseph, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson (captain), 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Jack Clement, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 6 Deian Gwynne, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Arthur Clark, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Will Trenholm, 21 Rhys Price, 22 George Barton, 23 Josiah Edwards-Giraud
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 13 Will Wand, 12 Orlando Bailey, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Joaquin Moro, 5 Ollie Chessum (captain), 4 Hanro Liebenberg, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Finn Theobald-Thomas, 17 Archie van der Flier, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Harry Palmer, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 James O’Connor, 23 Adam Radwan
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Ian Tempest, Neil Chivers
TMO: David Rose
Bristol Bears 14-18 Harlequins
Scorers
For Bristol Bears:
Tries: Harding, Luatua
Cons: Williams 2
For Harlequins
Tries: Dombrand, Isgro
Con: Benson
Pens: Benson, Evans
Teams
Bristol Bears: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 James Williams, 11 Aidan Boshoff, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Santiago Grondona, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Owen, 4 James Dun,3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Tomas Gwilliam, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 George Taylor, 20 Benjamin Grondona, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 23 Gabriel Ibitoye
Harlequins: 15 Jamie Benson, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Cadan Murley, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Nick David, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Alex Dombrandt (captain), 7 Jack Kenningham, 6 Guido Petti Pagadizábal, 5 Elliot Williams, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 3 Joe Jones, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Simon Kerrod
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Will Hobson, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Jonny Green, 20 Zach Carr, 21 Seb Driscoll, 22 Jack Grant, 23 Sean Kerr.
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Sara Cox, Simon Harding
TMO: Dean Richards
Saracens 17-21 Northampton Saints
Scorers
For Saracens:
Tries: Elliott, Dan
Cons: Farrell 2
Pen: Burke
For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Litchfield, McParland 2,
Cons: Smith 2, Hutchinson
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Charlie Bracken, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Marcus Street, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Ivan Van Zyl, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Max Malins
Northampton Saints: 15 George Furbank (captain), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Archie McParland, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 Ed Prowse, 4 Tom Lockett, 3 Luke Green, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 JJ Van Der Mescht, 20 Chunya Munga, 21 Callum Chick, 22 Jonny Weimann, 23 Fraser Dingwall
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley, Wayne Falla
TMO: Karl Dickson
