Anglo-Welsh Cup round-up

With the Six Nations yet to start and the Premiership off for the weekend, there was a full schedule of Anglo-Welsh Cup fixtures.

Here's how each team got on....

Sale 20-24 Northampton

Nafi Tuitavake scored in the last minute to put Northampton in pole position to qualify from Pool 3 of the Anglo-Welsh Cup following a 24-20 triumph over Sale at the AJ Bell Stadium.

With the teams making alterations for this encounter, the match unsurprisingly took a while to get going, but when it did the Greater Manchester outfit were the ones to initially profit.

Sam Moore touched down after 30 minutes to move Sale into the lead before Will Addison scored a penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Northampton responded, however, and two brilliantly worked efforts from Ken Pisi and Ben Nutley moved them into a 14-8 advantage.

James Grayson added a penalty for the Saints, but the hosts appeared to have secured the victory through Marc Jones' late try.

There was one last sting in the tail, though, as Tuitavake won the game for Northampton.

Harlequins 35-7 Scarlets

Scrum-half Dave Lewis inspired Harlequins to a 35-7 win over Scarlets and helped his side put one foot into the semi-finals of the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

Lewis, who joined Quins from Exeter at the start of the season, scored once and had a hand in two other tries as his side made it three from three in the tournament.

Henry Cheeseman, Archie White, James Lang and Ross Chisholm also crossed as their side moved to within a point of the last four.

Quins head to Northampton in the final round next week whilst Chiefs, in second and five points back, entertain Saracens.

London Irish 66-7 Wasps

Joe Cokanasiga scored a hat-trick as London Irish roared to their first Anglo-Welsh Cup win in three attempts this season and left Wasps' chances of qualifying for the semi-finals hanging by a thread after the 66-7 rout.

Wing Alex Lewington, scrum-half Scott Steele, wing Cokanasiga, prop Ollie Hoskins and full-back James Marshall all scored first-half tries as Irish grabbed a bonus point, with Wasps replying through a try from full-back Nick Foster, converted by fly-half Jacob Umaga.

Irish put it out of sight in the second period as replacements Saia Fainga'a and Piet van Zyl crossed for further tries. Marshall converted five times, and replacement Tommy Bell got three.

Cokanasiga got two more tries, with Aseli Tikoirotuma adding another in the final 10 minutes.

Saracens 40-21 Dragons

Three tries in 10 first-half minutes helped Saracens to a comfortable 40-21 Anglo-Welsh Cup victory over the Dragons at Allianz Park.

The hosts scored six tries in a comprehensive win, their first in the competition this season, with the speedy Nick Tompkins leading the charge before the break.

They secured a bonus point in the second half, although the Dragons hit back through two tries from prop Lloyd Fairbrother.

With the majority of the senior players away for Six Nations duty, the game was a great chance for the up and comers on both sides to stake their claims for regular spots.

Worcester 31-21 Exeter

Worcester beat Exeter for the first time since 2004 with a bonus-point victory at Sixways to keep their Anglo-Welsh Cup hopes alive.

After 12 consecutive defeats at the hands of the Chiefs, the far more experienced Warriors made hard work of subduing their opponents after giving them a 14-point start.

Josh Adams scored two of their tries in the 31-21 success, with Luke Baldwin, Tom Howe and David Denton getting one each and Jamie Shillcock converting three.

Exeter, whose qualification for the next round is now out of their hands, responded with tries from Shaun Malton, Tom Lawday and Harry Strong, with Joe Simmonds adding three conversions.

Bath 21-8 Newcastle Falcons

Bath remained on top of Anglo-Welsh Cup Pool 1 with a 21-8 win over Newcastle Falcons at the Rec.

Converted second-half tries from Paul Grant, Nathan Charles and Jack Wilson were enough to end the visitors' eight-match winning streak in cups this season.

It was a scoreless first half, low in quality and high in mistakes. The Falcons had by far the better chances to break the deadlock.

After a fine Juan Pablo Socino offload, Simon Uzokwe went close to scoring but knocked on as he eagerly tried to lay the ball back for a team-mate.

The hosts put the result beyond doubt three minutes from time after softening up the visitors with a rumbling maul, man-of-the-match Burns found Jack Wilson with a pinpoint crossfield kick.

The unmarked winger did not even need to break stride as he flopped over the tryline.