Bath and Bristol the big winners
WRAP: Bath overwhelmed Newcastle 40-15 to remain top of the English Premiership table on points difference on Saturday as Bristol stayed hot on their heels with eight tries during a record-breaking win against Leicester Tigers.
Newcastle, second bottom in the 10-team table, led 12-7 early on at Kingston Park, thanks mainly to a Jamie Blamire try and a converted score from Freddie Lockwood either side of Bath's Alfie Barbeary touching down.
But tries from Tom de Glanville and Will Stuart gave the visitors a six-point advantage at the interval and before Bath surged clear in the second half.
Charlie Ewels added Bath's fourth try before Scotland playmaker Finn Russell - who also kicked five conversions - and England back row forward Sam Underhill went over in the final 15 minutes to earn their side a seventh league win of the season.
Elsewhere, Bristol's 54-24 win over Leicester at Welford Road meant Pat Lam's side enjoyed a 10th successive away victory in the Premiership, eclipsing Saracens' previous record of nine straight wins on the road.
This result also saw Bristol score the most points any team has ever registered against Leicester at 'fortress' Welford Road, and as much as any side has scored against the Tigers anywhere in the Premiership.
Bristol's Gabriel Oghre and Kalaveti Ravouvou scored two tries apiece in a superb attacking display by the visitors that left Bristol level on points with southwest rivals Bath.
Viliame Mata, Rich Lane also crossed Leicester's line in a first half featuring six Bristol tries, while Bernhard Janse van Rensburg went over after the break before Ravouvou wrapped things up with his second try, a superb solo score from some 60 metres out.
Sale, meanwhile, maintained their 100 percent winning record at home this season by defeating bottom-of-the-table Exeter 28-10.
Luke James and Joe Carpenter scored first-half tries before a penalty try and Jonny Hill's score gave Sale a five-point haul as Exeter suffered their eighth defeat in as many Premiership games this season.
The Saturday scorers and scorers follow below ...
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Leicester Tigers 24-54 Bristol Bears
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="201|943580|2025"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
The scorers
For Leicester Tigers
Tries: Hassell-Collins 2, Steward, Bassett
Cons: Pollard 2
For Bristol Bears
Tries: Oghre 2, Ravouvou 2, Mata, Lane, Ibitoye, Janse van Rensburg
Cons: MacGinty 3, Worsley 4
The teams
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Will Wand, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 George Martin, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Jed Holloway, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Joseph Woodward.
Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Jack Bates, 13 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 12 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Fitz Harding (captain), 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Joe Owen, 4 James Dun, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 George Kloska, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Ben Grondona, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Sam Worsley, 23 Benjamin Elizalde.
Referee: Hamish Smales
Assistant referees: Hamish Grant, Simon Harding
TMO: David Rose
Sale Sharks 28-10 Exeter Chiefs
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="201|943581|2025"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
The scorers
For Sale Sharks
Tries: L James, Carpenter, Hill, Penalty try
Cons: R du Preez 3, penalty try does not require a conversion
For Exeter Chiefs
Try: Roots
Con: Slade
Pen: Slade
The teams
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Luke James, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 6 JL du Preez, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Waisea Nayacalevu, 23 Tom O’Flaherty.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Tommy Wyatt, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Ben Hammersley, 12 Tamati Tua, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Henry Slade, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Ross Vintcent, 6 Ethan Roots, 5 Franco Molina, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (captain), 3 Marcus Street, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Kwenzo Blose, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Richard Capstick, 20 Jacques Vermeulen, 21 Will Becconsall, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Josh Hodge.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, John Meredith
TMO: Peter Allan
Newcastle Falcons 15-40 Bath
[rp-mc-teams-match-summary id="201|943579|2025"][/rp-mc-teams-match-summary]
The scorers
For Newcastle Falcons
Tries: Blamire, Lockwood
Con: Connon
Pen: Connon
For Bath
Tries: Barbeary, De Glanville, Stuart, Ewels, Russell, Underhill
Cons: Russell 5
Teams
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (captain), 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 Sebastian de Chaves, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Murray McCallum.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Callum Hancock, 18 Micky Rewcastle, 19 Philip van der Walt, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Hugh O’Sullivan, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Oli Spencer.
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Francois van Wyk.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Ted Hill, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Will Butt, 23 Jaco Coetzee.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson, Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards