Bath’s bubble burst on Friday night at The Rec as Saracens continued their winning streak.

The West Country side looked to have under performed in parts and the 10-23 loss was a woeful one that’s bound to hit them hard. But you can never underestimate the Saracens, poised and of pure class in their ability to play running rugby, they had the edge over the home side and controlled the game.

Northampton Saints welcomed the Cherry and Whites to Franklins Gardens on Saturday. A lack-lustre first half made it difficult to predict who was going to walk away victorious but the second half showed effervescent episodes from the Saints and with four tries in quick succession, Gloucester were nowhere to be seen.

At the final whistle Northampton gained a bonus point in their 39-13 win and clambered above Saracens to take their place back at the top of the Aviva Premiership table.

However, it was despair for London Wasps as they failed to win against Sale on home turf, 17-21. The Sharks showed signs of spark and it was no doubt a great achievement to win at Adams Park.

Wasps had failed to find their feet in the last five games and this game proved no different, even more so when the Sharks threw everything at the home side, even the kitchen sink.

Sale are searching for a play-off position this season and with a third away win under their belt, slowly but surely they could find themselves in a strong position.

London Irish had been dark horses in recent weeks, seeing off the Saracens. But the tables turned on Saturday as the Exeter Chiefs put in a powerful performance to beat them 18-0 at Sandy Park.

The Chiefs were keen to avoid a third home defeat and they prevented this by putting in a fantastic performance that saw two second-half tries and stopping the Irish from registering any points on the scoreboard. A solid and well deserved win for the Chiefs.

Worcester arrived at the Stoop to take on the Harlequins. The Warriors, a side who nearly pipped the Tigers to the posts recently, found themselves in yet another similar situation but they couldn’t quite manage the win, leaving London defeated, 21-20.

It begs the question, just how close is the Premiership table, with the 12th placed side able to come within 2 points of a win? The Harlequins will need to shape up on their clinical performance if they want to be in with a chance of beating the Saracens in a couple of weeks.

On Sunday, Newcastle Falcons welcomed Leicester Tigers to Kingston Park. They showed strength and determination, especially with Noah Cato and Scott Lawson crossing the try line but the Tigers looked threatening on the attack. Especially when a key chip and chase from Niki Goneva set them up. But this game saw three yellow cards for the Tigers, all for deliberate interception!

Even though the final score was 41-18, I don’t think it reflected the determination the Falcons showed. However, gaps in Newcastle’s defensive line and over-committing at the break down was their down fall, with the Tigers once again showing patience pays off, a job well done!

Results:

Bath 10-23 Saracens

Northampton Saints 39-13 Gloucester

London Wasps 17-21 Sale Sharks

Harlequins 21-20 Worcester Warriors

Exeter Chiefs 18-0 London Irish

Newcastle Falcons 18-41 Leicester Tigers

Table:

By Rhiannon Chandler-Day

@RhiannonCDay

To see more from Rhiannon, please check out her blog at: http://rhiannonsrugbyunionblog.blogspot.co.uk – you can also see Rhiannon’s take on Northampton Saints’ impressive win over Gloucester here: Saints win again to stay top.