English Premier League:Newcastle ended their 13-month wait for an English Premiership away win with tries from a trio of England stars to stun Saracens 22-19 at Vicarage Road yesterday.
The Falcons appeared to have blown their chance when Hugh Vyvyan's try nudged the home side into a 19-15 lead five minutes from time. But Jamie Noon ploughed his way over from close-range three minutes later to add to early scores from Mathew Tait and Toby Flood, with Jonny Wilkinson adding two conversions and a penalty.
Earlier, Neil De Kock grabbed a try, Gordon Ross kicked two penalties and Glen Jackson one for a disappointing Sarries outfit, who could not turn their second-half pressure into more points.
Sale survived an early scare at Headingley to claim their fourth successive win and leave Leeds rock-bottom, the final score 34-20.
Leeds belied their lowly status to dominate the opening quarter and establish a 10-0 lead after 12 minutes, thanks to an aggressive pack and obstinate defending.
A converted try from prop Tommy McGee in the seventh minute and a penalty from fullback Leigh Hinton were the least they deserved for their superiority.
It took Sale until the 26th minute to score and when outhalf Charlie Hodgson converted the first of Lee Thomas's two tries on the stroke of half-time to add to two earlier penalties the Sharks led 13-10.
Thomas added his second on the hour mark and despite Tom Biggs replying for Leeds in the 65th minute, Sale hit back again when centre Chris Mayor and wing Oriol Ripol crossed the line to ensure Biggs's late second meant little.
On Saturday Gloucester overcame the early loss of injured England centre Mike Tindall to beat Bristol 27-0 and end 2007 as comfortable Premiership leaders.
A capacity Kingsholm crowd saw Gloucester storm clear through first-half tries from hooker Olivier Azam and replacement centre Leon Lloyd.
Leading 15-0 at the break, Gloucester confirmed their five-point maximum with some 16 minutes still remaining.
Wing James Simpson-Daniel collected Ryan Lamb's pass to scorch over from 50 metres, then Lloyd's second try ended any hopes of a Bristol fightback.
Harlequins number eight Nick Easter is an England worry for the Six Nations after damaging a knee in his club's hard-fought 10-7 win at Worcester.
Victory ensured the London club remain in the hunt to play in next season's Heineken European Cup.
Quins scored two first-half tries through Chris Robshaw and hooker Gary Botha while replacement outhalf Loki Crichton touched down two minutes from time to seal a losing bonus point for the hosts.
Leicester boss Marcelo Loffreda hailed his team's character after they climbed back into the play-off places with a hard-fought bonus-point win over London Irish.
The Tigers scored two tries in either half for a 25-17 win, Sam Vesty, Seru Rabeni, Martin Castrogiovanni and Julian White touching down.
Superb kicking in the wind by full-back Delon Armitage and a try by winger Sailosi Tagicakibau kept the Exiles in touch until near the end.
Lawrence Dallaglio led Wasps to a 25-10 victory over Bath.
Paul Sackey's two tries - his 60th and 61st in the Premiership - took him past Neil Back (59) into second place in the all-time rankings behind Sale's Steve Hanley (75).
Rob Webber, a hooker playing in the backrow because of Tom Rees's illness, touched down early on, Danny Cipriani adding two conversions and two penalties.
Bath only came to life late in the game when Joe Maddock crossed under the posts and Olly Barkley added a conversion and penalty.
How They Stand
P W D L F A B Pts
Gloucester 9 8 0 1 261 144 4 36
Bath 9 7 0 2 225 158 3 31
Saracens 9 6 0 3 238 195 4 28
Sale 9 6 0 3 201 170 4 28
Leicester 9 6 0 3 204 165 3 27
Harlequins 9 5 0 4 201 190 6 26
Wasps 9 3 2 4 196 174 3 19
Newcastle 9 4 0 5 156 192 3 19
Bristol 9 3 1 5 149 188 2 16
London I 9 3 0 6 166 174 3 15
Worcester 9 0 1 8 141 224 4 6
Leeds 9 1 0 8 140 304 1 5
WEEKEND RESULTS
Saturday: Gloucester 27, Bristol 0; Leicester 25, London Irish 17; Wasps 25, Bath 10; Worcester 7, Harlequins 10.
Sunday: Saracens 19, Newcastle 22; Leeds Carnegie 20, Sale 34.
