Gallagher Premiership Rugby: Leicester, Saracens and Gloucester secure bonus-point wins as Tigers move into top four
Updated 04/01/2025 at 20:33 GMT
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Leicester Tigers moved into the play-off positions in the Gallagher Premiership with a brilliant bonus-point victory over Exeter Chiefs at Welford Road. Leicester moved above Sale Sharks, who were beaten by Gloucester earlier in the day at Kingsholm as the Cherries secured all five points. Saracens bounced back from last weekend's thrashing by Bath to secure a bonus-point victory over Bristol.
Highlights: Leicester move into top four with gritty bonus-point win over Exeter
Video credit: TNT Sports
Gloucester, Leicester Tigers and Saracens all enjoyed important bonus-point home wins in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday.
Saracens moved up to third in the table, bouncing back from last weekend's heavy defeat to Bath, with a comprehensive 35-26 victory over Bristol Bears to secure all five points.
The Bears stay in second after suffering their first away defeat in 11 Premiership matches.
Earlier in the day, Leicester Tigers secured a 28-15 victory over Exeter Chiefs and made their way into fourth position, picking up all five points on offer thanks to Ben Youngs' late try.
The Chiefs stay in ninth position as they continue to struggle this campaign.
Gloucester also secured a bonus-point victory, beating Sale Sharks 36-20 at Kingsholm, in an extremely impressive performance. The Cherries sit in fifth position having moved above their opponents Sale, who drop to sixth.
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Tigers too strong for Exeter
Leicester Tigers moved up to fourth, beating Exeter Chiefs 28-15 at Welford Road.
Tries from Olly Cracknell, Cameron Henderson, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Ben Youngs ensured Leicester went home with maximum points.
The Tigers dominated the first half, taking a 14-3 lead into the break thanks to tries from Cracknell and Henderson.
Exeter fought back early into the second half, with Tom Wyatt's brace putting the Chiefs into the lead with half an hour to play.
However, Hassell-Collins' 50th Premiership try put Leicester back ahead with 10 minutes left as the Welford Road crowd roared their side on.
Youngs scored a brilliant try to secure a bonus-point victory for the hosts, as the former England international sold a dummy, before scoring under the posts.
Michael Cheika's side will finish the weekend in fourth position.
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Highlights: Leicester move into top four with gritty bonus-point win over Exeter
Video credit: TNT Sports
Youngs was pleased with his side's performance and their ability to bounce back in recent weeks.
"After the Sale away day and the Bristol one here where we got an absolute humbling, you have got to, sometimes you think you are going alright, and then it just hits you hard," Youngs said on TNT Sports. "We knew in the last couple of weeks that there is a real breakaway group as such, you start to look at the table starting to form, and you can either be a part of it or be left behind.
"It was really important over the last couple of weeks that we got some points and, you know, we were obviously able to do that. As you say, where are we now? Third. Great."
Youngs entered the pitch with around 10 minutes to play but knew that he was able to make an impact on the match.
He said: "Coming on it is our responsibility as experienced players to grab hold of it, and we are not always able to do that, but today I think we were just crying out for a bit of field position and a bit of tempo.
"Today it went alright, other days it has been a disaster, but I will take today."
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‘Rolling back the years’ – Youngs seals bonus-point win for Leicester with moment of magic
Video credit: TNT Sports
Sarries bounce back in style
Saracens bounced back from last weekend’s 68-10 defeat to Bath in emphatic fashion, securing a bonus-point victory over Bristol Bears, beating their opponents 35-26 in an enthralling encounter.
Tries from Tom Willis (2), Fergus Burke (2) and Lucio Cinti gave Saracens all five points, while Bristol picked up a bonus point for their four tries from Harry Randall, Kalaveti Ravouvou, Harry Thacker and Jake Heenan.
The hosts were too good for Bristol in the first half and went into the break with a 22-7 lead and three tries to their name.
Willis opened the scoring for Saracens, muscling his way past a number of Bristol defenders to score under the posts.
Burke then doubled Sarries’ try tally with a great burst from full-back to put his side in a dominant position early on.
Randall gave Bristol hope with a great score from the back of a ruck, but Willis’ second of the night ensured Saracens were in charge at half-time.
Willis’ second try was a thing of beauty, as the No. 8 used dazzling footwork to beat three defenders before scoring.
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‘Outrageous’ – Willis scores sublime Sarries breakaway try after Itoje intercept and dummy
Video credit: TNT Sports
Lucio Cinti secured the bonus-point, latching on to a brilliant Harry Wilson offload to score in the corner.
Saracens are now third and one point behind Bristol, who remain in second.
Jamie George made his 300th appearance for Saracens and was treated to a huge applause from the crowd before the match.
George admitted Bristol were a tough and unusual opponents to face.
"We knew it was going to be a big challenge, Bristol are a great team," George told TNT Sports. "They are really different to any team I have ever played against, to be honest, in terms of the style of play and how quickly they play.
"It was a real challenge for us defensively off the back of us conceding 68 points or whatever it was last week, so we looked a lot more like us, and we will be pleased with that.
"With most teams, you can analyse them, and you know what they are going to do in certain areas of the field, they kick the ball less than any other team in the league, so you have to sort of expect the unexpected really."
"It was a real challenge for us defensively off the back of us conceding 68 points or whatever it was last week, so we looked a lot more like us, and we will be pleased with that.
"With most teams, you can analyse them, and you know what they are going to do in certain areas of the field, they kick the ball less than any other team in the league, so you have to sort of expect the unexpected really."
The Saracens No. 2 was delighted with his team-mate Willis, who scored two tries.
George said: "He is genuinely phenomenal, he has been by far and away our best player this season.
"You just look at his numbers after games. Often, when you look at stats, people just look at the stats themselves, but it's the quality of his involvement as well.
"He is an unbelievable player who is getting a lot of credit, but he deserves every bit of it because he works very hard and makes a massive difference to this team."
"You just look at his numbers after games. Often, when you look at stats, people just look at the stats themselves, but it's the quality of his involvement as well.
"He is an unbelievable player who is getting a lot of credit, but he deserves every bit of it because he works very hard and makes a massive difference to this team."
‘Outrageous’ – Willis scores sublime Sarries breakaway try after Itoje intercept and dummy
Video credit: TNT Sports
Willis produced a player-of-the-match performance to ensure Saracens produced a reaction to last weekend's result.
"Obviously, we were aware that both teams were coming off the back of a bad result last weekend," Willis said. "Bristol had a tough one, and obviously we had a really tough one against Bath.
"All we talked about this week was not being too reactionary. I think a big thing we have done this season is to make sure that if you came to our club at the start of the week, you would not know if we won or lost.
"We have not been too high and not too low. I think we got that right this week, and it was just a case of getting back to what we think we do best. We needed loads of energy, loads of physicality, and to just go after the game."
"All we talked about this week was not being too reactionary. I think a big thing we have done this season is to make sure that if you came to our club at the start of the week, you would not know if we won or lost.
"We have not been too high and not too low. I think we got that right this week, and it was just a case of getting back to what we think we do best. We needed loads of energy, loads of physicality, and to just go after the game."
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‘How’s he scored that?’ – Willis powers through four Bristol players to put Sarries ahead
Video credit: TNT Sports
Gloucester too strong for Sale
Gloucester also had a bonus-point victory at Kingsholm, as they enjoyed an electric first half, scoring three tries in the opening 40 minutes, with Max Llewellyn, Santi Carreras and Josh Hathaway all going over the try-line during the first period.
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Highlights: Gloucester leapfrog Sale with thrilling home win
Video credit: TNT Sports
Carreras' try that opened the scoring for the hosts was the pick of the bunch, as Gloucester worked the ball brilliantly in midfield, before Chris Harris fed the Argentine, who made no mistake with the finish.
Sale Sharks fought back at the end of the first half with Ben Curry scoring, but Llewellyn’s second try of the match in the second half made Sale's task just too difficult and secured the bonus-point victory for Gloucester.
Sale hit back through Tom Roebuck's try with 20 minutes to play, but were unable to make the most of having an extra player, as Gloucester twice had players go into the sin-bin.
Gloucester's bonus-point try came from Lewis Ludlow intercepting a sloppy Sale pass, before he fed Llewellyn who could not be stopped.
Tomos Williams put the icing on the cake with minutes to play, as the scrum-half chased down his own kick to score the hosts' fifth try of the match and send the Kingsholm crowd into pure joy.
It was important that the Cherries were able to bounce back from their 22-15 defeat to Exeter last weekend, and they did so in emphatic style.
Gloucester now sit in fifth, as they secured their fifth victory of the season, but remain three points behind Leicester Tigers.
Highlights: Gloucester leapfrog Sale with thrilling home win
Video credit: TNT Sports
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