Adam Radwan further cemented his England credentials with a try in Newcastle's win at Bath; reigning champions Quins triumphed in a game where referee Sara Cox made history; Northampton edged out Exeter and Wasps recorded a thumping win over Bristol Bears
Saturday 25 September 2021 18:13, UK
We round up Saturday's action in the Gallagher Premiership, which saw Newcastle Falcons, Harlequins, Northampton Saints and Wasps all earn victories...
Adam Radwan will report for England duty on Sunday after another try-scoring performance as Newcastle beat Gallagher Premiership opponents Bath at the Recreation Ground.
The 23-year-old wing, who pounced for a try hat-trick on his England debut against Canada this summer, scored a superb solo effort that left Bath floundering.
Radwam, who now links up with England as part of a 45-man training squad, struck during a dominant first-half display by the Falcons.
He was followed over the Bath line by fellow wing Iwan Stephens and hooker George McGuigan, while fly-half Will Haydon-Wood kicked a penalty and conversion.
Bath, minus half-backs Danny Cipriani and Ben Spencer, offered little in attack apart from some creative flair shown by centre Max Ojomoh, who claimed a try nine minutes from time, with Orlando Bailey adding two penalties and a conversion.
It was a second successive Premiership defeat for Bath ahead of a west country derby against Bristol Bears next Friday, but Newcastle built impressively on a battling display against league champions Harlequins six days ago.
George Furbank kicked a last-minute penalty to send last season's runners-up Exeter to a second defeat in the opening two weeks of the new Premiership campaign as they lost at home to Northampton.
It was also Northampton's second success at Sandy Park in the calendar year as they triumphed 13-12 back in February.
Alex Mitchell and Matt Procter scored their tries with James Grayson kicking two penalties and two conversions with Furbank adding the two late crucial penalties after moving to fly-half following Grayson being replaced by Tom Freeman.
Exeter outscored their opponents in terms of tries by scoring three with Jack Maunder, Don Armand and Rus Tuima on the scoresheet, with Joe Simmonds converting all three and adding a penalty.
Yet it was the Saints who were celebrating at full time, despite being temporarily down to 14 men just before half-time after Sam Matavesi was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle.
England prospects Louis Lynagh and Alex Dombrandt scored tries in front of Eddie Jones but it was Harlequins' scrum and a South African who were the real stars of a victory over Worcester.
Lynagh and Dombrandt celebrated Tuesday's selection in Jones' first training squad ahead of the looming autumn series by touching down in a one-sided first half at Twickenham Stoop.
Cadan Murley also crossed to establish a 21-3 interval lead and while the Premiership champions went on to claim the bonus point through Joe Marchant, Worcester hit back through Ollie Lawrence, Willi Heinz and Will Chudley.
Twice the Warriors trailed by 18 points but heading into the last 10 minutes the deficit had been reduced to four through some enterprising play, only for lock Dino Lamb to dash their hopes by surging over the line late on.
Had it not been for their complete dominance at the scrum, which was a reliable source of points and penalties throughout, Quins might have been in trouble in their search for a second win of the season.
Although his influence eventually faded, former Springbok Andre Esterhuizen was a powerful presence in midfield as he broke the gainline time and again just days after signing a new contract.
A slice of history was made when Sara Cox became the first woman to referee a Premiership match and it was a tidy afternoon from the official, who has previously run the touchline 11 times and acted as TMO twice.
Ali Crossdale scored two tries on his debut as Wasps kicked off their Premiership campaign with an impressive thumping of Bristol Bears.
Wasps had the opening weekend off but ensured it was worth the wait for the crowd inside the CBS Arena as some clinical finishing and superb defence helped them dispatch last year's semi-finalists.
They did have captain Brad Shields, another of their try scorers, sent off for a second yellow card in the closing stages, but by that point, the result was in the bag against a Bristol side who have now lost both of their fixtures this season.
Along with Crossdale's double, fellow debutant and replacement hooker Dan Frost raced over in the second half, while with Tom Willis went clear from Josh Bassett's offload to seal the bonus point after Shields was dismissed before Zach Kibirige took advantage of a Bristol fumble off the final play.
Callum Sheedy's third-minute penalty and Max Lahiff forcing his way over from close range accounted for Bristol's only scores at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
