London Irish claim late win over Saracens thanks to Paddy Jackson penalty; Harlequins beat Wasps to end a three-game losing skid; Leicester Tigers claim their first Premiership win at Bath for 11 years; George Furbank misses late penalty as Northampton Saints lose at home to Sale Sharks
Saturday 19 February 2022 19:54, UK
It was a dramatic afternoon in the Gallagher Premiership as Harlequins, Leicester Tigers, London Irish and Sale Sharks all claimed narrow victories.
A last-minute penalty from Paddy Jackson was enough for London Irish to snatch a thrilling victory in Brentford.
Benhard Janse Van Rensburg scored two first-half tries for Irish, who led 12-10 at the interval after Tom Woolstencroft replied for the visitors.
Adam Coleman charged down Ruben De Haas' kick to score less than a minute after the restart but, with Sean O'Brien in the sin bin, Rotimi Segun sprinted through for a converted try.
Ollie Hassell-Collins touched down in the corner just as the sin bin expired to clinch Irish's bonus-point try, but Coleman was sent off for a high tackle on Alex Lewington before Nick Tompkins crossed in the corner, with Lozowski converting to put Saracens in front for the first time.
Irish made one last push to grab the victory and a penalty for offside - right in front of the posts in the dying seconds - was slotted over with ease by Jackson to take the points and move the hosts up three places to fifth in the table.
Leaders Leicester survived a major scare to record their first Gallagher Premiership victory at Bath for 11 years.
Leicester trailed by six points at half-time against the Premiership's bottom club, who were good value for their lead through tries from wing Will Muir, centre Max Ojomoh and back-row forward Josh Bayliss.
Fly-half Orlando Bailey added a penalty and conversion, but the Tigers were not to be denied as No 8 Jasper Wiese, scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth and fly-half Freddie Burns claimed touchdowns.
Burns also kicked three conversions, while full-back Bryce Hegarty booted a second-half penalty, with Leicester bossing the final quarter to deny Bath.
Champions Harlequins returned to form in style as they defeated Wasps at the Twickenham Stoop.
Quins ran in five tries in total as they ended a run of three straight defeats to move up to third in the table while at the same time open up a five-point gap between them and their visitors.
While the result may have been a disappointment for Wasps, there was the welcome sight of Jack Willis making his first appearance in a year, as a replacement, following his recovery from a serious knee injury.
Oscar Beard, Huw Jones, Cadan Murley and Andre Esterhuizen scored four tries without reply for Quins before Louis Lynagh cancelled out Tom Willis' score.
Sam Spink and Jeff Toomaga-Allen scored late tries to give Wasps a losing bonus point.
George Furbank missed a penalty with the final kick of the game as Sale claimed a crucial win at Franklin's Gardens.
Furbank opted to take a shot at goal with the clock having hit 80, but his tricky attempt from close to the right touchline drifted just wide of the right post.
Rohan Janse van Rensburg ultimately provided the telling contribution for the Sharks as he picked up a loose ball and charged in for what proved to be a vital try 20 minutes from time.
AJ MacGinty added the conversion to put Sale a point up and they then put up the barricades under plenty of pressure late on to secure the win.
Arron Reed and Sam James scored first-half tries for the visitors with Juarno Augustus, Alex Coles and Alex Mitchell responding for Saints.
