Another exciting Monday night in the A league unfolded as Worcester Cavaliers and Bristol United both came from behind to secure stunning victories.

A youthful Bristol side trailed Northampton Wanderers going into the last play of the game, however replacement fly half Elias Caven wriggled his way over to secure 31-27 victory for his side.

If anything, Worcester’s might have been even more impressive. They trailed 22-7 to Sale Jets at one point before a stunning comeback saw them run out as 27-22 winners – a quite brilliant response. The result leaves them joint top of the Northern Conference with Newcastle Falcons A, each has four wins from four.

The third game in the Northern Conference (yes, Bristol are in the Northern Conference) was between Gloucester United and Leicester Tigers A, a repeat of Saturday’s fixture between the 1^st XVs, another tough defeat for Leicester.

It was no different last night, Gloucester beat Tigers 35-15 courtesy of a Dan Thomas hat-trick, another tough day at the office for Leicester whose threadbare 1^st XV resources are having an impact on the 2^nd XV too.

Down in the Southern Conference Saracens stretched their lead at the top of the table. They are the only unbeaten team in the south and continued that run with an excellent 27-3 victory over Harlequins A at the Stoop, a victory that included tries for England U20 stars Maro Itoje and Nick Tompkins, two men to keep an eye on for the future.

Exeter Braves and Bath United look likely to be Saracens’ closest challengers at this stage and both recorded strong wins last night too.

Exeter beat London Irish A 33-10 to take them into second place, a try from England Age Grade prop Jack Stanley helping them to victory.

Bath meanwhile beat London Wasps A 31-15 at Maidenhead, with tries from Anthony Watson, who with Luke Arscott and Matt Banahan made a pretty formidable back three, Rich Lane, and two penalty tries thanks to the work of the pack in the scrum.

Arguably the most crucial though was a score from ex St Joseph’s College winger George Wacokecoke, whose second half score came at a time when Wasps were just edging back into the game.

All in all, another great night of rugby in the A League!

Aviva A League Round 5 Results:

Northampton Wanderers 27-31 Bristol United

London Wasps A 15-31 Bath United

Gloucester United 35-15 Leicester Tigers A

Sale Jets 22-27 Worcester Cavaliers

Exeter Braves 33-10 London Irish A

Harlequins A 3-27 Saracens Storm

Aviva A League Teams:

Northampton Wanderers:

15 Tom Collins
14 Jamie Elliott 
13 Dom Waldouck 
12 Tom Stephenson 
11 Howard Packman
10 Will Hooley 
9 Joel Hodgson 
1 Ethan Waller 
2 Ross McMillan 
3 Tom Mercey 
4 Alex Woolford 
5 Jordan Onojaife 
6 Teimana Harrison 
7 Ben Nutley 
8 Phil Dowson (c).

Replacements: 16 Matti Williams
17 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi 
18 Adam Parkins 
19 Cam Dolan 
20 Lewis Ludlum 
21 Alex Day 
22 Harry Mallinder 
23 Rory Hutchinson.

Bristol United:

15 Jack Wallace;  14 Jack Tovey,  13 Luke Eves,  12 Mark Cooke,  11 Charlie Amesbury;  10 Callum Sheedy,  9 Luke Baldwin;  1 Ellis Genge,  2 Chris Brooker,  3 Jack O’Connell;  4 Joe Joyce,  5 Glen Townson,  6 Nick Koster,  7 Olly Robinson,  8 Ben Skirving.

Replacements:  16 Rhys Lawrence,  17 Tom Harrison,  18 Sonny Haines,  19 Dale Lemon,  20 Jake Polledri,  21 Tim Turner,  22 Nick Carpenter,  23 Elias Caven.

London Wasps A:

15 Piers O’Conor  14 Tom Howe  13 Ben Jacobs  12 Ollie Evans  11 Josh Bassett  10 Harry Shephard  9 Tom Bliss  1 Alex Lundberg  2 Edd Shervington  3 Phil Swainston  4 Will Rowlands  5 Tom Baldwin  6 Gus Jones  7 Thomas Young  8 Buster Lawrence.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay  17 Tom West  18 Will Stuart  19 Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas  20 Ollie Lyons  21 James Small-Edwards  22 George Eastwell  23 Callum Sirker.

Bath United:

15 Luke Arscott
 14 Matt Banahan
 13 Max Clark
 12 Rory Jennings
 11 Anthony Watson
 10 Ollie Devoto
 9 Micky Young
 1 Nathan Catt 
2 Tom Dunn
 3 Kane Palma-Newport 
4 Charlie Ewels (c) 
5 Tom Ellis
 6 Tom Woolstencroft
 7 Max Northcote-Green
 8 David Sisi.

Replacements: 16 Grant Shiells
 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi
 18 Marcus Garrett
 19 Matt Koep
 20 Alex Humphries
 21 Will Homer
 22 Rich Lane 
23 George Wacokecoke.

Gloucester United:

15 Steve McColl;  14 Tom Isaacs,  13 Seamus Kelly,  12 Billy Meakes,  11 Steph Reynolds,  10 Billy Burns,  9 Callum Braley;  1 James Gibbons,  2 Aleki Lutui,  3 Shaun Knight;  4 Elliott Stooke,  5 James Hudson;  6 James Voss,  7 Dan Thomas,  8 Lewis Ludlow.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole,  17 Will Goodrick-Clarke,  18 Alec Clarey,  19 Tom Hicks,  20 Joe Batley,  21 Harry Bassett,  22 Aled Thomas,  23 Charlie Norman.

Leicester Tigers A:

15 John Hargreaves,  14 Paolo Odogwu,  13 Gift Sankoh,  12 Charlie Thacker,  11 Rhys Williams,  10 Oli Bryant,  9 Sam Harrison (c);  1 Riccardo Brugnara,  2 Harry Thacker,  3 Dan Hogan,  4 Charlie Beckett , 5 Lou Reed,  6 Will Owen,  7 Giorgi Tkhilaishvilli,  8 Ed Milne.

Replacements: 16 Jake Farnworth,  17 Owen Hills,  18 Rikki Stout,  19 Nick Murphy,  20 Stone Priestley-Nangle,  21 George Prince,  22 David Williams,  23 Javiah Pohe.

Sale Jets:

15 Mike Haley,  14 John O’Donnell,  13 Andy Forsyth,  12 Sam James,  11 Phil Mackenzie,  10 Nick Macleod,  9 Nathan Fowles,  1 Darren Fearn,  2 Shalva Mamukashvili,  3 James Flynn,  4 Matt Postlethwaite,  5 Ollie Parkinson,  6 George Nott,  7 Liam Parfitt,  8 Cameron Neild.

Replacements: 16 Dave Blackwell,  17 George Hymes,  18 Ciaran Parker,  19 Tom Bell,  20 Mike Quickenden,  21 James Mitchell,  22 Joe Ford,  23 Sam Bedlow.

Worcester Cavaliers:

15 Jon Hughes  14 James Stephenson  13 Alex Grove  12 Ravai Fatiaki  11 Josh Watkins  10 Tiff Eden  9 Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier (c)  1 Ofa Fainga’anuku  2 Jack Singleton  3 Joe Rees  4 Matt Perks (Dudley Kingswinford)  5 Shay Kerry  6 Mat Gilbert  7 Andrew Boyce  8 Huw Taylor.

Replacements:  16 Ben Sowrey  17 Jack Cosgrove  18 Alex Gordas  19 Myles Edwards (Worcester Sixth Form College AASE Programme)  20 Robbie Keith (Birmingham University)  21 George de Cothi  22 Josh Drauniniu  23 Cam Thompson (Fylde RFC).

Exeter Braves:

15 Chrysander Botha  14 Fetu’u Vainikolo  13 Max Bodilly  12 Adam Hughes  11 Jack Arnott  10 Ceri Sweeney  9 Pat Phibbs  1 Carl Rimmer  2 Elvis Taione  3 Alex Brown  4 Jerry Sexton  5 Ed Holmes  6 Sam Simmonds  7 James Scaysbrook  8 Sam Skinner (c).

Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman  17 Brett Sturgess  18 Jack Stanley  19 Joel Conlon  20 Sireli Naqelevuki  21 Stuart Townsend  22 Laurence May  23 Alex Wilcockson.

London Irish A:

1. Jamie Hagan  2. Mike Mayhew  3. Leo Halavatau  4. Theo Vukasinovic  5. Toby Salmon  6. Ollie Currie  7. Conor Gilsenan  8. Charlie Stevenson  9. Connor Murphy  10. Myles Dorrian (c)  11. Johnny Williams  12. Eoin Griffin  13. Tom Fowlie  14. Ross Neal  15. Cam Cowell.

Replacements: 16. Ollie Adams  17. Tom Smallbone  18. Rich Palframan  19. Charlie Stonehill  20. Luke Frost  21. Cam Smith  22. Will Crow  23. Harry Lightfoot Brown.

Harlequins A:

1 Darryl Marfo
 2 Rob Buchanan
 3 Josh Ibuanokpe
 4 Stan South
 5 Sam Twomey
 6 Joe Trayfoot
 7 James Chisholm (c) 
8 Henry Cheeseman

9 Jordan Burns
 10 Louis Grimoldby
 11 Loewy Simmons
 12 Ben Botica
 13 George Lowe
 14 Ollie Lindsay-Hague
 15 Ross Chisholm.

Replacements:16 Charlie Piper
 17 TBA 18 Seb Adeniran-Olule
19 Kieran Treadwell
 20 Archie White
 21 Karl Dickson
 22 Paul O’Lima
 23 Charlie Gossington.

Saracens Storm:

15. Will Edwards;  14. Mike Ellery,  13. Nick Tompkins,  12. Max Wilkins,  11. Jack Wilson;  10. Nils Mordt,  9. Ben Spencer;  1. Jack Culverhouse,  2. Scott Spurling,  3. Biyi Alo,  4. Hayden Smith,  5. Mouritz Botha,  6. Maro Itoje (c),  7. Matt Hankin,  8. Nick De Jager.

Replacements: 16. Phil Thiel,  17. Ollie Mines,  18. Ben Featherstone,  19. Kennet O’Neill,  20. Don Barrell,  21. Tom Whiteley,  22. Matt Gallagher,  23. George Perkins.