Leaders Bath inflicted a record Gallagher Premiership defeat on 14-man Saracens as they romped to a 68-10 victory at the Recreation Ground.
Bath had a bonus point secured before half-time, such was their dominance of an opening 40 minutes that saw Saracens flanker Toby Knight sent off and full-back Liam Williams yellow-carded, while flanker Theo McFarland and wing Tobias Elliott suffered game-ending injuries.
Knight was dismissed in the 14th minute following direct head contact in a challenge on Bath centre Ollie Lawrence, and Saracens had a mountain to climb after that.
They ended the afternoon reeling from the worst reversal in their Premiership history, surpassing a 65-10 loss to Exeter in October 2023.
Bath gained an early penalty try before prop Thomas du Toit, centre Cameron Redpath and wing Will Muir touched down before the interval, while Finn Russell kicked three conversions.
Joe Cokanasiga (2), Lawrence and Sam Underhill added second-half touchdowns, as Muir completed a hat-trick, with Russell booting five more conversions, and Saracens had no answer apart from Kapeli Pifeleti’s late try, plus a Fergus Burke penalty and conversion.
Saracens’ Ben Earl looks dejected after Saracens conceded their 10th try against Bath
Bath have moved five points clear at the Premiership summit after once again underling their status as major title
contenders.
Cole snatches Twickenham draw for Leicester vs Harlequins
Dan Cole’s converted try snatched a dramatic last-gasp draw for Leicester as they fought back to hold Harlequins 34-34 at Twickenham.
Quins appeared to have clinched a desperately close encounter at a sold-out Allianz Stadium when man-of-the-match Cadan Murley ran in the second of his two tries in the 69th minute.
But the Tigers used their pack to pound away at the home line in the closing moments and were rewarded when Cole crept over with a minute left before Handre Pollard landed the conversion.
Pollard’s successful kick meant that for the third time the ‘Big Game’ fixture at Twickenham had produced a draw between the rivals.
Leicester played with greater cohesion but a self-destructive streak undermined their evening with first-half mistakes gifting their rivals two tries and providing Marcus Smith with two easy shots at goal.
Smith was irrepressible throughout and comfortably the most dangerous player on the pitch, his electric display watched by Steve Borthwick from the stands as England’s head coach draws up his plans for the looming Six Nations.
Davison scores brace vs old club as Northampton thump Newcastle
Trevor Davison scored two tries against his former club as Northampton returned to form with a 61-0 thumping at home to Newcastle.
The Saints had lost their last three league games, leaving them eighth in the table and desperately needing to start picking up wins in order to make up ground on the teams above them.
And this was just the response the champions required as they look to retain the title they won back in June, with nine tries at in what was their final match of a memorable 2024.
Northampton were rampant in the early stages and opened the scoring after five minutes when George Hendy broke through down the left before his ball inside gave Alex Coles an easy run in.
The bonus point was in the bag for Northampton as early as the 15th minute when Alex Mitchell caught the Falcons fast asleep by tapping a quick penalty and sauntering over untouched.
A fifth try arrived just before the half-hour mark when Fin Smith sent Tommy Freeman through a gap before his ball outside gave Josh Kemeny an easy finish down the right.
Northampton continued to dominate in the second half and brought up the half-century, however, as Tom Pearson went over for two tries in the space of three minutes.
The hosts rounded off a comfortable afternoon as Rory Hutchinson picked up a loose ball around his 10-metre line before sprinting clear.
