Premiership round-up: Bath demolish Saracens, Northampton Saints edge Newcastle and more
With the Six Nations over, players returned from international duty to bolster their respective clubs in the Gallagher Premiership, writes Sports News Blitz’s James Corrigan.
Their impact was immediate as a high-intensity weekend of action delivered emphatic wins, dramatic turnarounds, and crucial shifts in the league standings.
Bath demolish Saracens
Friday offered the first fixture of the weekend, with Bath facing Saracens at home.
A dominant display from the hosts then made easy work of a formidable Saracens team as Bath tallied nine tries and 62 points, only conceding 16 points in the process.
Alfie Barbeary, who was amongst the scorers in the first half, showed his class to underline why Saracens have signed him for next season.
The bonus-point win secured second position on the table for Bath, while Saracens dropped to sixth.
Gloucester beat Harlequins
Saturday provided three entertaining matches, with Harlequins welcoming Gloucester to kick off the day’s fixtures.
Both sides have had a disappointing season so far and found themselves in the bottom three before kick-off.
After a bright first-half performance from the Quins and a yellow card to Gloucester back-rower Lewis Ludlow, it seemed that the match would go in favour of the home side.
However, Gloucester had other plans.
Ben Redshaw, the former Newcastle Red Bulls man, sparked their comeback 17 minutes into the second half.
A further two tries were scored by the away side, securing a vital 26-19 win on the road to move them up to eighth in the table ahead of Harlequins.
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Saints edge Newcastle
Next up was a clash between top and bottom as Northampton Saints tackled Newcastle.
Newcastle are currently undergoing a huge redevelopment within the club but have been unable to get much success on the pitch so far this season.
The Saints, on the other hand, were top of the league after winning nine out of 11 games.
A surprisingly close encounter ensued, with a back-and-forth battle between the two sides providing an excellent game of rugby.
In the end, the Saints managed to get the win by the skin of their teeth despite a last-minute try from the Red Bulls, which did at least secure Newcastle a vital bonus point.
The final scoreline read 28-27 in favour of Northampton.
Chiefs trump Sharks
Exeter Chiefs faced Sale Sharks in the final match of the day, with both teams desperate for a win.
The Chiefs were hoping to jump into the top four while Sale needed to gather momentum after a disappointing season so far.
A tight first half followed, although Exeter managed to find a clinical edge that Sale could not.
Two excellent set-piece tries were scored by the home side thanks to some great passing play by Italian back-rower Ross Vintcent, who missed the Six Nations due to injury yet showed his class to give his team the lead.
Sale did get into good positions on the field, but the effort and time it took to break down the Chiefs defence set the two teams apart.
Eventually, electric winger Paul Brown-Bampoe scored his ninth try of the season, with a successful conversion from fan favourite Henry Slade marking the last points of the game as the home side sealed a 26-14 win.
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Tigers outlast Bears
Sunday saw the final match of the weekend as Leicester Tigers welcomed Bristol Bears for a battle between two teams who are competing for top places in the Premiership.
It took 17 minutes for the deadlock to be broken but only three minutes for the second score as Leicester worked up a lead of 14-0.
However, Bristol managed to assert some control in the match thereafter, responding with two tries of their own before the break.
Another try from Leicester rebuilt the lead in the second half, with successful penalty and conversion kicks from Billy Searle helping maintain the advantage.
The Tigers then finished strongly, scoring a further two tries before the final whistle to seal a 33-19 victory.
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