Henry Arundell scored four tries as Bath tightened their grip on second place in the Gallagher Prem with a dominant 69-12 home victory over Newcastle.
By ending a run of three straight losses, Bath closed to within four points of leaders Northampton while pulling six points clear of third-placed Leicester ahead of the Tigers’ clash with Sale on Sunday and crunch trip to the Recreation Ground.
England wing Arundell crossed twice as Bath were unstoppable in racing to a 31-0 lead with five tries before half-time and Santiago Carreras was among those who got in on the act with six more following the break.
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Newcastle finally managed to respond with a brace of tries from Alex Hearle but there was no real crumb of comfort the Red Bulls could take from another heavy defeat.
Bath head coach Johann van Graan said: “Tonight is about the five points that we got against Newcastle and that puts us in a semi-final again. It’s three seasons in a row that we’ve been in the top four.
“We’re all looking forward to being away from each other now for a few days, spend some time with our families and just get away from rugby. Some players will go to the England setup for a few days.
“We’ll have a pretty low training week. Then we’ll get cracking for the last two rounds and see where we end up.”
Harlequins overcome injury woes to secure battling win
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Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt is expected to be recalled by England next week
Harlequins defied their hefty injury list to stage a rousing fightback in a 41-24 victory at Allianz Stadium that endangers Exeter’s play-off hopes.
Trailing 24-7 after just 35 minutes, Quins ran in 36 unanswered points and finished their annual ‘Big Summer Kick-Off’ in complete control with Boris Wenger’s overtime try the final indignity for the Chiefs.
Captain Alex Dombrandt was at the forefront of the resurrection act, especially in the second half, and it was pulled off despite the club missing 21 players in the treatment room.
Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter looked on in quiet fury as Wenger charged over as his side missed the opportunity to go third in the table with a defeat that leaves them vulnerable to being overtaken by play-off rivals Bristol and Saracens.
Dombrandt is expected to be recalled by England next week, with Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore insisting his return would be a fitting reward for his blockbuster form.
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England boss Steve Borthwick on Monday names his first squad ahead of the July Tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina, and Dombrandt has played his way into contention.
Gilmore said: “Alex has been amazing and his last three months have been outstanding.
“I don’t think there are too many better number eights in the country at the moment. He’s putting his hand up to grab that starting eight jersey for England as well.
“The growth in his game and in his leadership has been a real bright spot for us that I know we can carry into next season.
“In the first half of the season he had a couple of little niggles that meant he couldn’t build any rhythm with his game.
“He got moved out of the England squad which hurt him because he’s a proud Englishman.
“Captaincy is easy when you’re winning games, but captaincy when you’re under fire isn’t and we’ve been on the back foot a fair bit this season.
“He’s got a big three games to finish with, including this one, so to get man of the match against a physical Exeter pack is excellent, but he must back it up against Saracens and Northampton and I know he will.”
Segun sets Saracens on their way to crucial victory
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Rotimi Segun helped Saracens to get back in the mix for the play-offs
Rotimi Segun’s early brace eased Saracens towards a 30-14 victory over Gloucester at the StoneX Stadium that put them back in the mix for the play-offs.
The door was opened by fourth-placed Exeter’s defeat against Harlequins earlier on Saturday, and against a Cherry and Whites side that offered little, the six-time champions’ fourth win in a row never looked in doubt.
Sarries are now four points behind the Chiefs in the standings, their late-season surge meaning their outgoing director of rugby Mark McCall still has a chance of signing off with another title.
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Mark McCall feels his team’s fate is now in their own hands, saying: “Six weeks ago we started talking about it (the play-offs), what was left and we knew it wasn’t in our hands at all, to be honest, but we could do what we could do.
“I think the three games before this we played better than we did today, although some aspects of our game today I’m pleased with and were strong.
“But six weeks on from going up to Sale it’s in our hands now and we welcome Quins here, and obviously they had a great result today against Exeter, which helps us but underlines how important it is you respect every opponent that comes.
“I thought defensively we were really at it today, I thought we scrummed well and our maul defence was good, so set-piece and defence was really good today.
“But with the ball we were, let’s be honest, poor. We had piles of opportunities in their 22 and were pretty poor.”