The Gallagher Premiership season begins with tributes to Queen Elizabeth II as Exeter beat Leicester 24-20, Harlequins avoid a scare by seeing off Newcastle 31-40, London Irish beat Worcester Warriors 45-14 and Bristol Bears edge past Bath 31-29
Saturday 10 September 2022 22:00, UK
Recap the opening day of the Gallagher Premiership season as tributes are paid to Queen Elizabeth II with minute silences and the national anthem played at matches.
Exeter prop Patrick Schickerling scored a last-minute try to send reigning champions Leicester to an opening-day defeat.
In a hugely competitive tussle a draw would have been a fair result but Schickerling's winner rewarded a strong last 20 minutes from Exeter, who picked up a morale-boosting 24-20 victory after last season's disappointing seventh-placed finish.
A penalty try got Chiefs off the mark before Solomone Kata marked his debut with a try to put the hosts in charge with a 17-6 half-time lead before Tigers came roaring back after the break, as Hanro Liebenberg and Charlie Cane touched down.
Exeter responded as replacement prop Schickerling was denied a try by a knock-on but they continued to pour pressure on their opponents. Twice they were held up over the line but they suffered a blow when Alec Hepburn was yellow-carded for a high tackle. The decision looked to be crucial but Hepburn returned just in time to see Schickerling crash over for the winner.
Harlequins avoided an opening-day scare to see off Newcastle 40-31 in a pulsating contest at Kingston Park.
Newcastle struck first through hooker George McGuigan before the away side soon responded with Andre Green and Wilco Louw going over.
Adam Radwan and former Quins winger Nathan Earle registered sublime solo scores to give the hosts a three-point lead at the break, but Quins scored twice in quick succession after the interval through George Head and Lennox Anyanwu.
Tries from McGuigan and Logo Mulipola threatened to give Falcons a shock win, but Quins skipper Alex Dombrandt powered his way over before Joe Marchant put the icing on the cake on a nervy but deserved victory for last year's semi-finalists.
Worcester collapsed to a heavy defeat in their Gallagher Premiership opener to confirm that a long season awaits on and off the field as London Irish strolled to a 45-14 victory.
Facing the prospect of administration due to debts exceeding £25m, Warriors found no refuge on the pitch at Brentford Community Stadium as they leaked seven tries.
Their players have still not been paid fully for August and, with £6m in tax due, the club face a winding-up court hearing on October 6 while behind the scenes new owners are sought urgently.
Ben Donnell, Ben White and Ollie Hassell-Collins put the home side into a commanding 19-0 half-time lead before substitute Henry Arundell sealed the bonus point for his side.
Will Joseph scored Irish's fifth try, Agustin Creevy adding a sixth sandwiched between Warriors' two consolation tries through Curtis Langdon and Jamie Shillcock. England international Arundell then ran in an easy seventh and his second of the afternoon.
Ellis Genge marked his Bristol homecoming with two tries as the Bears began with a 31-29 victory over Bath at Ashton Gate.
Bath looked to be heading towards victory but a late try from Will Capon which was converted by AJ MacGinty proved to be the difference.
Tries from Ben Spencer and Tom Dunn, plus the boot of Piers Francis, had put Bath in control despite falling behind to a Genge try within 60 seconds and Niall Annett's first-half red card.
The Bears, though, fought back as both Magnus Bradbury and Luke Morahan went over before Genge struck again with just under 10 minutes to play.
That left Will Capon to score with two minutes left, leaving MacGinty to kick over the winning points on his debut to get the hosts' season up and running.
