Tigers' Owen Williams misses! He swerves it slightly left of the left upright, from a fairly central position. Saints' five-point lead remains.

A quick glance across at the action at The Stoop and Newcastle have their second try of the game against Harlequins.

The Falcons light things up, something they have struggled to do for so much of today, and from close range Mark Wilson gets over. With just 13 minutes remaining, that surely is too little too late.

Frustration ripples around Franklin's Gardens as Leicester win a penalty in the Saints half as a scrum collapses.

The visitors will kick for the posts from here...

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Exeter are over! Exeter have the lead!

The hosts have spent long periods of the second half building pressure and captain Don Armand is the man to finally go over.

Henry Slade's kick and good and Exeter have a five-point lead - that is their biggest advantage all day. But will it be enough?

This is a delicately-poised East Midlands derby now.

Saints don't just want the win - they want the bonus point to go above fourth-placed Bath!

But Tigers are within one score of winning themselves. It is on a knife edge.

And remember, just three points separated Saints and Tigers before today.

Northampton surge forward yet again but can't get past a resilient Tigers defence and this time the visitors get the turnover! They punch the air. Danger averted - for now.

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The game is delicately poised at Sandy Park.

Sale playing with real smarts now, trying to slow the game up.

A few too many errors in Exeter's game is costing them. Still, there is just two points in it with little over 15 minutes remaining.

The England skipper Dylan Hartley comes off to be replaced by Mike Haywood.

Hartley gets a big round of applause from the home fans for his display.

Saints have to settle for three points as an advantage comes to nothing so they go back for a Stephen Myler penalty and he makes no mistake from the tee.

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Harlequins are really piling it on against Newcastle now.

Danny Care, one of the England quartet to return for Quins today, darts over from close range. A very big win in hosts' grasp now.

Saints are pressing for yet another try. They're right up to the Tigers' line, 3m out.

Still no time to breathe at Franklin's Gardens as another Tigers burst forward almost produces a try.

This time though there's nothing doing as a Dan Cole handling error earns a reprieve for Northampton.

Oh my, things are not going great for Newcastle. They are very much on the slippery slope to despair, as Harlequins run in a fifth try through Mat Luamanu after the Falcons had Evan Olmstead sin-binned for obstruction.

Northampton respond immediately, winning field position from kick-off and the pressure results in Stephen Myler slotting Saints back in front. 

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Burns add the extras without fuss.

It was a great score by Ben Youngs, who bursts free on the left and steams in from distance to put Tigers right back in the game.

With 50 minutes up at Sandy Park, Exeter take the lead for the first time as Henry Slade kicks a penalty.

It was short lived, however, as AJ MacGinty makes it six from six with the boot to edge Sale 22-20 ahead.

Tries, tries, tries galore.

Olly Woodburn's score for Exeter Chiefs gets them to within two points of Sale. It took all of four minutes for things to get increasingly interesting at Sandy Park. Henry Slade misses the conversion and so Sale's lead remains... for now at least.

At The Stoop, Marland Yarde comes up with the bonus-point try for Harlequins! And the hosts are doing it easy as they lead Newcastle 34-10 after 42 minutes.

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We have started where we left off in the second half. A brave break from George North near his own line almost leads to Saints bursting through the middle, but Tigers scramble back and the danger is averted.

This is some match.

Early pressure from Tigers as replacement Lachlan McCaffrey powers towards the Saints line but the hosts steal possession and are able to clear.