Premiership Rugby Cup: Northampton beat Leicester to book semi-final place
- Published
Northampton stand-off James Grayson scored 17 of his side's 47 points in the win over Leicester
Northampton Saints became the first side to reach the Premiership Cup semi-finals with a 47-20 win over Leicester.
But, although the Premiership's top two sides Saracens and Exeter both won too, they must wait to see if they will top their respective groups.
Saracens won 32-12 at Harlequins to top Pool B but will now need to wait until Worcester host Wasps next week to see if that will be enough.
Exeter won 12-10 at Bristol but can be overtaken in Pool A by Newcastle.
The three pool winners and the best runner-up qualify for the semis, while home advantage goes to the team with the best record in the pool stages.
If the Chiefs had managed a bonus-point win, they would have sealed top spot. But, if the Falcons can now win by a margin of nine points or more at Sale next Sunday, they would leapfrog back to the top of Pool A.
Exeter won at Bristol thanks to a try from Greg Holmes and a penalty try, in response to Ryan Edwards converting his own try and Ian Madigan's penalty for the Bears.
On a day when Tom Varndell made his first start for Leicester for nearly a decade, the Tigers ended their cup campaign with just a point to show for it after suffering a fourth defeat in four outings at Northampton.
Joe Ford scored a try, two conversions and two penalties for the Tigers, while number eight Fred Tuilagi also went over.
But James Grayson scored a try and added six conversions in a comfortable bonus-point win for Saints.
Northampton's other tries came from Jacobus Reinach (2), James Fish, Dom Barrow, Heinrich Brussow and Tom Collins.
Saints' victory ensured that they will finish top of Pool C with 15 points but they will need to wait until next weekend to see if that is enough to secure home advantage in the last four.
Saracens won at Harlequins thanks to tries from Sione Vailanu, Joel Kpoku, Max Malins and Rotimi Segun.
Alex Lozowski added three conversions and a penalty, while Malins also kicked a penalty.
Joshua Ibuanokpe and Elia Elia scored tries for Harlequins, one of which was converted by James Lang.