Saracens stroll to victory
Saracens wrapped up an easy 26-8 Aviva Premiership victory to remain in charge at the top of the table and leave opponents Worcester staring ominously at the relegation trap door.
The Londoners were favourites to win by a bigger margin but their four tries, which came via wing David Strettle, hooker Schalk Brits, full-back Alex Goode and fly-half Charlie Hodgson, were good enough.
The stand-off converted three of the touchdowns.
Worcester tried to add to a sole penalty from outside-half Ignacio Mieres and try by number eight Leonardo Senatore during a scoreless second period, but it was all in vain.
Six-try Northampton reasserted their title credentials by fending off Bath 43-25 to maintain second spot with their sixth straight league victory.
George Pisi, Jamie Elliott, Samu Manoa and George North backed up a try brace for lock Christian Day as Saints denied Bath their 12th consecutive win in all competitions.
The league's most accurate goalkicker, Stephen Myler, added 13 points to ensure Bath left Franklin's Gardens without even a losing bonus point.
Bath raced into a 13-0 lead thanks to Kyle Eastmond's try and two penalties and a conversion for George Ford.
Rob Webber and Leroy Houston also went over for Bath in the second half.
Leicester held off a tremendous fightback by Sale to beat the Sharks 30-23 at Welford Road.
It was a much needed boost for the Aviva Premiership champions who started the day in seventh place after last week's thrashing at leaders Saracens.
They owed the win to a great first-half performance which earned them two tries from Ed Slater and Adam Thompstone and a 20-6 half time lead.
Star of the show was young Welsh fly-half Owen Williams who had a fabulous first 40 minutes and finished with 15 points from a faultless kicking display.
But Sale hit back after the interval with two tries of their own and a late penalty by replacement Joe Ford earned them a bonus point.
Harlequins protected fourth place but were unable to produce the bonus point that looked certain following a dominant first half in the 22-6 win over Exeter Chiefs.
A crowd of 74,827 at Twickenham saw Nick Evans, Charlie Walker and Mike Brown score tries as the 2012 champions entered the interval 19-3 ahead.
But they could only then manage a penalty from Evans as the entertainment produced in the first half of 'Big Game Six' was replaced by an arm wrestle that finished 3-3 on the scoreboard
