SARugbymag.co.za looks back at the English Premiership, French Top 14 and Celtic Pro12 matches played this weekend.
Having trailed at half-time, the Exeter Chiefs produced a surging second-half performance to beat the Sale Sharks 30-25 at Sandy Park, with captain Don Armand at the forefront of the fightback.
The visitors raced out to a commanding 19-point advantage against their more fancied opponents, but Exeter clawed their way back into the contest with two late first-half tries that narrowed the gap to 19-12 at the break.
Exeter wrestled into the lead with two quick tries at the resumption, including one from Armand, who powered through several feeble tackles to score. Flyhalf Henry Slade then kept the scoreboard ticking over with a couple of penalties. And while Sale also added a few three-pointers late on in the contest, it was only enough to earn them a losing bonus point. The Exeter Chiefs remain second on the log, one point clear of Saracens.
In other round 18 Premiership matches, the Leicester Tigers beat their East Midlands rivals the Northampton Saints 38-31 in a thrilling encounter, Tim Swiel crossed for one of seven tries as Harlequins demolished the Newcastle Falcons 53-17, Gloucester eased to a 32-14 triumph over bottom-feeders Bristol, Wasps beat the Worcester Warriors 40-33 to consolidate their place at the top of the standings and third-placed Saracens hammered Bath 53-10.
Meanwhile in the French Top 14, high-rollers La Rochelle extended their lead at the summit of the standings to 11 after beating Pau 23-13, Racing put their recent turmoil – caused by the now called-off Paris merger – aside to upset Clermont 27-24, Grenoble kept alive their hopes of staying in the top flight by downing Castres 21-20, Lyon thumped Bayonne 52-7, Bordeaux edged Toulouse 20-11 and Brive dashed Montpellier’s hopes of a home playoff with a 28-25 win against Jake White’s men.
Results in the Celtic Pro12 saw Leinster battle to a 22-21 win over the Cardiff Blues to stay top of the table, the second-ranked Munster dispatched Zebre 50-14 in Italy, Treviso stunned the Ospreys 13-5, Ulster ground out a 27-17 win against the Newport Gwent Dragons, the Scarlets beat Edinburgh 26-10 and the Glasgow Warriors outlasted reigning champions Connacht 35-24 in an entertaining game.
Photo: Harry Trump/Getty Images
