Aviva Premiership
Newcastle Falcons 26-14 Leicester Tigers
Newcastle Falcons moved off the bottom of the Premiership table with a fine victory over a below-par Leicester Tigers at Kingston Park.
Simon Hammersley waltzed through the Tigers defence for the opening try before Adam Powell added a second to give Falcons a 20-9 half-time lead.
Laurence Pearce crossed to reduce the deficit but the Falcons' defence held firm to see out the final 15 minutes.
Newcastle have now won five straight games at home in all competitions.
Tigers, who only managed a single penalty in last weekend's 10-3 home defeat by Sale, again looked short of ideas as they failed to break into the opposition's 22 in the first half.
Newcastle on the other hand seemed full of confidence on home turf following back-to-back Premiership wins at Kingston Park and made their pressure count with two superbly crafted tries before the break.
Full-back Hammersley ghosted through a gap following a fine overlap before Powell went over after a drive from the line-out.
It took until after the hour mark for Leicester to finally string together any meaningful phases as substitute back-row Pearce dived over to make it 23-14.
The visitors continued to push forward but had left it too late to complete a comeback as Newcastle earned their third Premiership victory of the season.
Falcons move above London Irish and Worcester into 10th, while Leicester are third but could be overtaken by fourth-placed Harlequins who travel to Gloucester on Saturday.
Super League
Huddersfield 13-18 Wigan Warriors
Wigan Warriors continued their 100% winning start as Josh Charnley's late try gave them victory over a dogged Huddersfield Giants side.
Jermaine McGillvary's try gave the hosts a first-half lead, but after the break Wigan's Liam Farrell went over.
Warriors went ahead for the first time when Dom Manfredi crossed, but were pegged back by Jamie Foster's try.
Jamie Ellis kicked a goal and a drop goal but Charnley's converted try turned the game on its head at the end.
Grinding out wins
Despite several key personnel missing from last week's defeat by St Helens, including captain Danny Brough and prop Eorl Crabtree, the Giants turned in a positive display in their second defeat of the campaign.
McGillvary scored on his 150th Giants appearance, assisted by the impressive Ellis who led his side in the absence of Brough, while Foster's debut was also marked by a score.
However Wigan's ability to grind out a result, with their own injury concerns, was shown by a second-half response even when the game looked lost following Ellis' late drop-goal.
Charnley's defensive work was backed up by the crucial try to send the Warriors into next week's World Club Series against Brisbane Broncos in good spirits.
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