Gallagher Prem round-up: Leicester sneak past Sale in thriller as Harlequins, Bath, and Exeter rout opposition

Leicester Tigers eked out a 36-35 win against Sale Sharks as Bath, Harlequins and Exeter all won by big scorelines in Saturday's Gallagher Prem action.

Adam Radwan was the star in Leicester's win and scored his 14th try in 14 Prem appearances, with Luke James grabbing a second-half hat-trick as Sale pushed the Tigers all the way to the end of a 10-try thriller.

Radwan and Freddie Steward combined for two tries in the opening period, with Cameron Henderson answering a Tom O'Flaherty try for Sale with the last action of the half to give Leicester a 22-7 half-time lead.

James scored his first and second try either side of replacement Emeka Ilione's Leicester's bonus point try in the 50th minute to close the gap, before Tom Whiteley and Tom Roebuck traded tries to make it 36-28 going into the final 10.

A hat-trick try for James followed by a George Ford conversion narrowed the deficit to one point, but James's high-ball
fumble under pressure from Radwan enabled the Tigers to close the game out to move to fifth in the Prem table.

Late tries secure Bath victory over Bristol in West Country Derby

Late tries from Sam Underhill and Henry Arundell wrapped up a 40-15 win for Bath in their West Country derby with Bristol.

Bristol were the last team to win away at Bath in the Prem just over a year ago, and were on course to repeat the feat after Kalaveti Ravouvou opened the scoring with a try just 49 seconds into the game.

A Miles Reid try got the hosts back on level terms, but Bristol persisted, with Worsley scoring a penalty and converting a try from hooker Gabriel Oghre to put the visitors 15-5 ahead after gale force winds affected Bath's kicking game early on.

Finn Russell was able to convert tries from Ollie Lawrence and Cameron Redpath as the skies cleared at the end of the first half, and a Joe Cokansaniga try put the hosts 24-15 ahead before Arundell and Underhill saw off Bristol pressure and sealed the deal with tries late on.

Smith stars as Harlequins rout Newcastle

Marcus Smith signed off for England duty in typically dazzling and inspirational fashion as Harlequins beat Newcastle 52-14.

Smith converted tries from Luke Northmore, Tyrone Green and William Porter after the fly-half set up the latter with an explosive break, before Rodrigo Isigro secured the bonus point with a fabulous try-of-the-season contender.

Green scored again from close range to give Harlequins a 35-0 lead at the break, and tries from Will Evans, Cassius Cleaves and replacement hooker George Turner allowed Quins to cruise to victory.

Newcastle replacements Ollie Leatherbarrow and Murray McCallum charged over for late consolation tries but the visitors left the field with heads bowed, well beaten again and without a Prem win.

Slade in England contention as Exeter thump Gloucester

Exeter centre Henry Slade scored 22 of Exeter's points in a superb all-round performance as Exeter swept aside a struggling Gloucester 39-12.

Will Joseph's fabulous try early on was overshadowed by excellent Exeter attacking, which allowed Slade and Manny Feyi-Waboso to give Exeter an early 21-7 lead.

Gloucester's struggles were exacerbated when Joseph and South African flanker James Venter both limped off, and two Slade conversions gave the Chiefs a 15-point lead at the break.

A scrappy second half saw no score until 11 minutes from time, when Slade delivered a beautiful grubber kick which he gathered himself to score his second try of the match and his fourth in two games, before Josh Hodge converted Jack Yeandle's driving maul try to seal the deal.

The victory leaves the Chiefs in third place in the Prem table at the end ofthe opening block of five league matches, while Gloucester are still searching for their first league win.