LONDON IRISH EARNED a surprise 22-19 victory over English Premiership leaders Exeter Chiefs, while Bristol boosted their play-off bid by crushing Leicester Tigers 40-3 this evening.
Matt Cornish, Curtis Rona and Cornish’s replacement Agustin Creevy all scored tries for London Irish, with Paddy Jackson adding a penalty and two conversions.
Exeter grabbed tries from lock Will Witty plus centres Ollie Devoto and Tom Hendrickson, while fly-half Harvey Skinner booted two conversions.
Declan Kidney’s side could have been well ahead before Exeter, much-changed from the side which qualified for this season’s European Champions Cup final last Saturday, had made any territory in the opposition half.
At Ashton Gate, an emphatic bonus-point victory – a record league win for Bristol against Leicester – means a repeat outcome against Irish on Sunday could set up a top-four finish.
Bristol will also require one of their play-off rivals Wasps or Bath to lose on the final day of regular season action – they face Exeter and Saracens respectively – but Pat Lam’s men have given themselves every chance.
It was the Bristol pack that prospered, with number eight Nathan Hughes, hooker Bryan Byrne and flanker Dan Thomas all scoring tries in the first 45 minutes.
Full-back Ioan Lloyd also touched down and replacement Harry Thacker crossed against his former club before Bristol collected an 80th-minute penalty try.
Worcester finished their home season in style with a hard-fought 40-27 victory over a severely weakened Saracens, relegated for breaching the salary cap, at Sixways.
Warriors took advantage of the visitors’ limited strength to score six tries, with Francois Hougaard scoring two and Noah Heward, Ashley Beck and Ted Hill also going over and there was also a penalty try award.
Charlie Watson and Ali Crossdale both scored two tries for Saracens with Manu Vunipola adding two conversions and a penalty.
This evening’s Premiership results
- Bristol 40-3 Leicester Tigers
- Worcester Warriors 40-27 Saracens
- Exeter Chiefs 19-22 London Irish
