Tim Visser scored a hat-trick of tries as Harlequins cruised to a 38-7 win over London Irish at the Twickenham Stoop in the Aviva Premiership. Nick Evans opened the scoring with an early penalty before passing the ball inside to Visser, who burst through under the posts for the first try of the match, leaving the home side 10-0 up at the break.
Harlequins extended their lead further early in the second half as captain Danny Care powered across the line as the visitors struggled to keep possession. Visser kept the points coming for the home side with his second of the match midway through the second half, cutting inside before leaping across the line.
Visser secured the bonus point for Quins a couple of minutes later, while Jack Clifford made the most of a Tom Cruse error late on, powering across from a lineout after the Exiles man was sent to the sin bin for a no arm tackle. Halani 'Aulika ensured that the visitors got something on the board in the final seconds, sprinting over for a late consolation try for Irish.
The result leaves Quins third in the table, while London Irish stay bottom, having lost all six of their matches so far this season.
Worcester Warriors 20-29 Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers overturned a 17-0 deficit against 14-man Worcester Warriors to claim a 29-20 win in the Aviva Premiership this afternoon. The Warriors made a bright start to the match, as Tom Heathcote got the ball out to Wynand Olivier from a scrum for an early try, before Matt Cox added a second.
Graham Kitchener kept the visitors in the game at half time though, powering over the line against his old club for Leicester's first points of the match shortly before the interval. Having already had a spell in the sin bin during the first half, Donncha O'Callaghan found himself heading back to the dressing room early in the second half as he collapsed the maul, earning himself a second yellow.
Worcester were reduced to 13 men soon after as Gareth Milasinovich was shown a yellow card just three minutes after coming off the replacements bench. Leicester made the most of Worcester's discipline issues, with Telusa Veainu closing the gap with a second try of the afternoon for the visitors, before a penalty try inside the final 10 minutes handed the Tigers the lead for the first time in the match.
Lachlan McCaffrey sealed the bonus point and put the win beyond doubt with seconds remaining for Leicester, claiming a chip forward before powering across the line. The result leaves Leicester second in the table, while Worcester sit 10th following a fourth loss in five matches.
Bath 11-13 Northampton
Northampton Saints have held on to secure a narrow 13-11 win over Bath Rugby in the Aviva Premiership. JJ Hanrahan scored the only points in a cagey first half, kicking a penalty for Northampton to leave them 3-0 up at the interval at the Recreation Ground.
The Saints made a bright start to the second half though, with George Ford giving the ball away to Luther Burrell, gifting the winger the opening try of the match. Ford managed to add a couple of penalties to keep Bath in the match though, before Semesa Rokoduguni gave the home side a narrow lead, after a string of passes from Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson set him up.
Northampton reclaimed the lead inside the final 10 minutes though as Hanrahan split the posts with his second penalty of the match, sealing the win for the visitors. Northampton sit fifth in the table as a result of the win, while Bath slip to ninth.
Wasps 27-41 Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs have scored six tries, including a Thomas Waldrom hat-trick, to beat Wasps in their Aviva Premiership clash at the Ricoh Arena. Chiefs came out strongly with Gareth Steenson kicking an early penalty before they engineered the game's first try after a quarter of an hour. Steenson's fine kick put the visitors five metres from the line and from the lineout Waldrom drove over to extend the lead to 8-0, although Steenson missed the conversion attempt.
Jimmy Gopperth got Wasps on the board with a penalty, but Chiefs' driving was too strong and Jack Nowell made use of an overlap to go over in the corner and put the away side firmly in control. Gopperth added another three but Chiefs secured the bonus point before half time thanks to a try apiece from Mitch Lees and Waldron, the former thundering over from a lineout before the pack powered Waldrom over for a second to set up a 27-6 lead.
Wasps were shellshocked, but they found an important score moments before the whistle when George Smith's precise kick played in Frank Halai after Nowell was unable to collect, and Gopperth converted to cut the deficit to 12 at the break. That signalled a swing in momentum, and within the first 13 minutes of the second half Chiefs' once-imperious lead was wiped out altogether as Ashley Johnson rounded off a fine move before Lorenzo Cittadini went over to level things up.
Chiefs rallied, however, and though Waldrom was denied at the first attempt as play was brought back for a penalty, he was not to be denied and completed his hat-trick from another well-executed lineout move with 57 minutes played.
Steenson converted once more to put Chiefs a converted try ahead of Wasps. Exeter put the game to bed in the 72nd minute as Moray Low went over the line after a pick-and-go move from Chiefs' forwards. Steenson split the posts with his conversion as Exeter ran out 41-27 winners to move to fourth in the Aviva Premiership table.
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