Sarries on top; Falcons face relegation
Saracens edged closer to a home Premiership semifinal when they beat Sale Sharks 45-9 at Edgeley Park on Friday.
Charlie Hodgson returned to haunt former club Sale with 20 points for the reigning Premiership champions, Saracens.
At the other end of the scale Newcastle Falcons moved closer to relegation from the Premiership when they went down 9-19 to Worcester Warriors at Sixways.
Centre Alex Grove's second-half try secured the victory for Worcester, leaving bottom club Newcastle still eight points adrift with just four league games left.
All Friday's scores and scorers!
Sale Sharks 9-45 Saracens:
Saracens earned a bonus point victory at Sale Sharks on Friday. The visitors ran in five tries at Edgeley Park and scored 27 unanswered points in an impressive display from Mark McCall's men.
Chris Wyles and Ernst Joubert crossed the line in the first half and that was followed by scores from Alex Goode, Michael Tagicakibau and Hugh Vyvyan after the break. On his return to his former club, Charlie Hodgson added 20 points with the boot.
Saracens started the game strongly and it was from early pressure that the visitors took the lead. The visitors strong defensive game forced Sale full back Rob Miller into a knock-on deep inside his own territory and when Charlie Hodgson got the ball from the scrum, Brad Barritt's clever run gave Chris Wyles space to get the ball and race home from 30 metres. Hodgson converted.
Hodgson made it 10-0 minutes later with a penalty by home fly half Nick Macleod got his side on the board with a penalty minute later.
Sarries scored their second of the game with the game nearing the half hour mark and it came from more pressure. Barritt's great chase forced a knock-on and Neil de Kock was on hand to collect the ball and free Ernst Joubert to score.
Macleod struck a further two penalties before the interval and Hodgson also added another three points to make it 18-9 to Saracens at the break.
That lead was extended in the minutes after the restart when Hodgson struck another two penalties to extend the lead.
The lead was extended on the hour with Sarries' third try of the evening. Replacement Mako Vunipola took the ball into contact and De Kock spotted a gap around the side of the ruck and his offload to Alex Goode allowed the full back to score under the posts. Hodgson converted.
The fourth and bonus point try came with 10 minutes to go. Sarries had already spent five minutes deep in Sale territory before the back combined with a slick handling move to release replacement Michael Tagicakibau to score. Hodgson converted.
The match got even better with just minutes left on the clock when replacement Hugh Vyvyan went over after a series of pick and drives and good work from Tagicakibau. Hodgson converted to wrap up a fine night's work for the visitors.
The scorers:
For Sale Sharks:
Pens: Macleod 3
For Saracens:
Tries: Wyles, Joubert, Goode, Tagicakibau, Vyvyan
Cons: Hodgson 4
Pens: Hodgson 4
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Sam Tuitupou (captain), 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Andy Powell, 7 David Seymour, 6 Mark Easter, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Kearnan Myall, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Vadim Cobilas, 19 Tom Holmes, 20 Richie Vernon, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Johnny Leota, 23 Will Addison.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Duncan Taylor, 13 Chris Wyles, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 James Short, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil De Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Justin Melck, 5 George Kruis, 4 Steve Borthwick (captain), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 John Smit.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Maka Vunipola, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 Hugh Vyvyan, 20 Andy Saull, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Adam Powell, 23 Michael Tagicakibau.
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Stuart Terheege, Alan Hughes
Worcester Warriors 19-9 Newcastle Falcons:
Worcester Warriors secured a massive Aviva Premiership victory as they edged out Newcastle Falcons 19-9 at Sixways.
The result saw Newcastle move closer to the relegation trap-door.
Centre Alex Grove's second-half try secured the victory for Worcester, leaving bottom club Newcastle still eight points adrift with just four league games left.
Jimmy Gopperth kicked three penalties for the visitors, which was enough to secure a 9-6 advantage approaching the hour mark, but Scotland international Grove then rounded off a spell of sustained pressure and the Falcons were finished.
Gopperth's opposite number, Andy Goode, booted 14 points via four penalties and a conversion - his final strike denying Newcastle the consolation of a losing bonus after their hopes of a first league away triumph since February last year had already vanished.
Eleventh-placed Wasps, who host Newcastle on the regular league season's final day in early May, are not expected to gain anything from their trip to title play-off contenders Northampton on Saturday.
But Newcastle's latest defeat - their 13th from 18 Premiership starts this term - has upped the ante for remaining fixtures at home to Sale Sharks and Saracens and away against Gloucester and Wasps.
The scorers:
For Worcester Warriors:
Try: Grove
Con: Goode
Pens: Goode 4
For Newcastle Falcons:
Pens: Gopperth 3
Teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Marcel Garvey, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Dale Rasmussen, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Shaun Perry (captain), 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Jake Abbott, 6 Sam Betty, 5 Chris Jones, 4 James Percival, 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 Bruce Douglas, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Danny Gray, 23 Ravai Fatiaki.
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Jeremy Manning ,14 Corne Uys, 13 Jamie Helleur, 12 James Fitzpatrick, 11 Alex Tait, 10 Jimmy Gopperth (captain), 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Ally Hogg 7 Will Welch, 6 Taiasina Tu'ifua, 5 James Goode, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Matt Thompson, 1 Jonny Golding.
Replacements: 16 Joe Graham, 17 Grant Shiells, 18 Ashley Wells, 19 Adriaan Fondse, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Greg Goosen, 23 Rikki Sheriffe.
Referee: Sean Davey
Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Alan Biggs