Premiership Rugby Cup: London Irish, Newcastle & Bristol record pool-stage wins
- Published
London Irish scored five tries in their 34-19 win against Harlequins at Brentford
London Irish put one foot in the Premiership Rugby Cup semi-finals as they beat Harlequins for their third win in as many pool matches.
The Exiles picked up a bonus point in their 34-19 victory, while there were also wins for Newcastle and Bristol.
Falcons edged out Premiership leaders Leicester 36-28 in a see-sawing contest, while Bristol racked up the tries in a 61-19 win against Bath.
The Bears ran in nine tries as they thumped their West Country neighbours.
That made it a second win in three matches for Bristol, while any lingering hopes Bath may have had of reaching the knockout stages were extinguished by their third defeat in three.
The pick of the night's matches came at Kingston Park, where Newcastle went above previous Pool B leaders Leicester thanks to two tries in the closing 10 minutes to secure their bonus-point win.
Falcons had led 19-14 at half-time, thanks to three tries from Nathan Earle, Zach Kerr and Max Wright, but Tigers responded to take the lead inside the last quarter as Archie Vanes crossed for his second of the night, with winger Hosea Saumaki scoring the pick of the tries.
However the hosts kept their composure and added two more scores from Robbie Smith and Alex Tait for the victory. Leicester came away with a try bonus point of their own to stay just a point behind Newcastle.
Max Wright scored one of Newcastle's five tries against Leicester
London Irish got the better of local rivals for the second time this season as they built on earlier bonus-point wins over Northampton and Saracens with a five-try victory against Harlequins.
Albert Tuisue's opening try was cancelled out by scores from Matas Jurevicius and George Hammond for Quins, before Mike Willemse restored Irish's lead before the interval.
The Exiles stretched that advantage in the second half thanks to Tom Parton and Matt Rogerson, before Lewis Gjaltema narrowed the deficit. But Lucio Cinti continued his recent good form with a fifth try to seal five points for the hosts.
At Ashton Gate, Bristol kept their semi-final hopes alive in style. Pat Lam's side had a try bonus point wrapped up inside the first 20 minutes, while winger Niyi Adeolokun also went over twice in the first half.
Bath improved a touch after the break to reduce the deficit with three tries of their own, but Bristol had a field day with Richard Lane, Jack Bates, Bryan Byrne, Dave Attwood, George Kloska, Mitch Eadie and Piers O'Conor all scoring in the rout.
There are three more fixtures on Saturday before the pool stages conclude at the end of March, with teams playing a cross-pool fixture each.
The three group winners and the best runner-up will progress to April's semi-finals.
Saturday's fixtures
Sale v Wasps (13:00 GMT)
Exeter v Worcester (15:00 GMT)
Saracens v Northampton (15:00 GMT)
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- Published25 March 2018
- Published15 February 2019
