A hat-trick from Iain Balshaw and a brace from James Simpson-Daniel helped Gloucester to a 39-23 against Newcastle at Kingsholm. However, the game was overshadowed somewhat as Falcons fly-half Jonny Wilkinson limped off in the first-half with a dislocated knee.

Wasps 23 Bath 27
Bath roared to the top of the table as the narrowly beat Wasps 27-23 at Adams Park.  A second-half comeback from the West Country outfit saw them leapfrog Sale into top spot.

Wasps welcomed back influential fly-half Danny Cipriani after a five-month absence but the England number 10 couldn’t stop Bath taking an early 12-0 lead.  Michael Claassens and Matt Stevens crashed over in the opening quarter to give the visitors the perfect start but Wasps, who have had a terrible start to the season, replied almost immediately.  Cipriani kicked three unanswered penalties to reduced Bath’s lead to three and then Rikki Flutey went over to give Ian McGeechan’s men a 16-12 half-time lead.

Four minutes after the restart Bath regained the lead when the impressive Stevens set up Pieter Dixon to score from close range.  A Butch James penalty extended the visitors’ lead but Wasps responded as flanker Tom Rees scored in the corner.  The game was then won for Steve Meehan’s men on the hour mark when centre Joe Maddock pierced the Wasps defence and went over in the corner to gain the bonus point.  James added the extras to send Bath to the summit of the Guinness Premiership.

Wasps: Try; Flutey, Rees – Cons; Cipriani, Staunton – Pens; Cipriani (3)
Bath: Try; Claassens, Stevens, Dixon, Maddock – Cons; James (2) – Pens; James

London Irish 28 Sale 6
London Irish demolished Sale’s 100% record as they ran out comfortable 28-6 victory against the Sharks.  Sale went into the game having not conceded a try in their opening four games but their defence leaked four tries against the Exiles and fall to second place in the Guinness Premiership.

The home side took the advantage thanks to Peter Hewat’s boot as he kicked two penalties to Charlie Hodgson’s one to lead 6-3.  Then the Sharks defence was finally breached with three minutes of the first half left as Richard Thorpe found gaps in the visitors defence to take the Exiles into the break 11-6 ahead.
After the break the floodgates finally opened and London Irish took advantage of poor Sale tackling and Hewat went over after his kick had pinned Sale in their own 22.

The misery continued for the Manchester club as Alex Corbisiero crashed over after Seilala Mapusua had manufactured the gap and then Irish grabbed the bonus point when Sailosi Tagicakibau scythed through a tired Sharks rearguard and touched down to give his side a comfortable victory.

London Irish:  Try; Thorpe, Hewat, Corbisiero, Tagicakibau – Cons; Hewat – Pens; Hewat – Drop Goal; Hewat
Sale: Pens; Hodgson (2)

Leicester 29 Northampton 19
Two late tries from Dan Hipkiss and Toby Flood helped Leicester to a hard-fought 29-19 victory at Welford Road and it lifted the Tigers into second spot.
In a tight first half the opportunities were few and far between with the boot dominating the scoring.  Flood kicked three penalties for the home side but the Saints kicker Stephen Myler was as accurate as Flood and replied with three of his own.
 
The only try of an intense first half was scored by Northampton prop Euan Murray after the Saints pack had put pressure on the Tigers defensive pack to take the visitors into half-tim in front.

The second half was as well-balanced as the first and Leicester reduced the gap when Johne Murphy scored in the 56th minute to put them within a score of Saints but Myler responded and kicked another penalty for the Northampton.

With ten minutes to go, Leicester finally broke down a stern Saints defence again with first Hipkiss scoring to take the lead and then Flood’s try put the game beyond doubt and took Heyneke Meyer’s side to second place in the Guinness Premiership.

Leicester: Try; Murphy, Hipkiss, Flood – Cons; Flood – Pens; Flood (4)
Northampton: Try; Murray – Cons; Myler – Pens; Myler (4)

Gloucester 39 Newcastle 23
A hat-trick from Iain Balshaw and a brace from James Simpson-Daniel helped Gloucester to a 39-23 against Newcastle at Kingsholm. However, the game was overshadowed somewhat as Falcons fly-half Jonny Wilkinson limped off in the first-half with a dislocated knee.

Wilkinson had given the Falcons an early lead with a penalty but the home team replied with first an Olly Barkley and then Balshaw grabbed his first try as he outpaced the Newcastle defence to touch down. Then came the incident that will hog the headlines as Wilkinson fell awkwardly under a ruck and had to be carried off in the 25th minute to the dismay of the travelling fans.

Gloucester continued to dominate and Balshaw added his second try when he was released into the corner after good work in the back line and the Falcons could only manage a Rory Clegg penalty before half-time to trail 16-6.

Newcastle came out in the second half and reduced the deficit as both Matt Thompson and Tom May scored for the visitors but Gloucester’s Olly Barkley replied with a couple of penalties to keep his side three points in front.

Gloucester then put the game safe when Balshaw completed his hat-trick and then two brilliant finishes by James Simpson-Daniel gave the home side a comfortable lead.

A late try from Phil Dowson added some respectability to the score but Gloucester still ran out convincing winners.

Gloucester: Try; Balshaw (3), Simpson-Daniel (2) - Cons; Walker - Pens; Barkley (4)
Newcastle: Try; Thompson, May, Dowson - Cons; Clegg - Pens; Wilkinson, Clegg

Bristol 16 Saracens 23
Glen Jackson was the star of the show at The Memorial Stadium as he kicked 18 points to help Saracens to a 23-16 victory at basement club Bristol.  Bristol have lost their first five games of the campaign and have only two losing bonus points to show for their season so far.

In a close first half Saracens took the lead when Kameli Ratuvou carved a path through Bristol’s defence to touch down.  Bristol responded and David Lemi went over to level the scores and then Adrian Jarvis’ conversion handed Richard Hill’s side the lead.  A penalty from Jarvis extended the home sides lead but two Jackson penalties sent Sarries into half-time 11-10 ahead.

 After the break the game was dominated by the boot and Jackson’s accuracy was Bristol’s downfall as the Sarries fly-half kicked another three penalties and a drop goal.  Bristol could only manage two penalties through replacement Ed Barnes and it saw the West Country side slump to their fifth league defeat of the season and Saracens victory saw them leap to fourth in the table.

Bristol: Try; Lemi – Cons; Jarvis – Pens; Jarvis, Barnes (2)
Saracens: Try; Ratuvou –Pens; Jackson (5) – Drop Goal; Jackson

Worcester 23 Harlequins 30
Harlequins ran in four first half tries as they beat Worcester 30-23 at Sixways to move into the play-off places of the Guinness Premiership.

Quins came flying out of the blocks and after Matthew Jones had given the home side the lead with a penalty, it was all Quins as they scored three tries in the opening 15 minutes.  Firstly, Ugo Monye latched on to Chris Malone’s grubber kick to score and two minutes later Mike Brown added a second for the visitors as he powered over from close range.  Gonzalo Tiesi then added a third after neat work from Danny Care to send Quins into a 17-3 lead.

Worcester came back at their London rivals and a Matthew Jones converted try and penalty saw the deficit reduced to three points after 26 minutes.  Quins replied and another Monye try and Malone penalty handed Quins a 27-13 half-time lead.

After the break Worcester came back at Quins and Miles Benjamin crossed and Jones added the extras to make it 27-20.  Malone then restored the 10-point cushion for Quins and the Warriors could only manage a solitary Jones penalty and the Warriors suffered their fourth defeat of the season and lie just above Bristol at the bottom of the table.

Worcester: Try; Jones, Benjamin – Cons; Jones (2) – Pens; Jones (2) – Drop Goal; Jones
Harlequins: Try; Monye (2), Tiesi, Brown – Cons; Malone (2) – Pens; Malone (2)
 

---