Tom Willis scores two tries as Saracens beat Bristol to boost England’s bid for No. 8 in their Six Nations opener on February 1. Wales’ Max Llewellyn also scores twice in Gloucester’s win over Sale as Leicester beat struggling Against Exeter.
Last updated: 04/01/25 20:23
Tom Willis scored twice in Saracens’ win over Bristol to further strengthen his ambitions to make his England Test debut.
Tom Willis scored two tries as Saracens dispatched second-placed Bristol Bears with a 35-26 victory in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday.
Saracens bounced back from their record Premiership defeat at Bath the week before, ending the Bears’ 10-game winning streak on the road, with Willis leading the charge in their bonus-point win.
The man of the match showed his strength with two tries as he scored his second goal on the stroke of half-time, seeing him evade three players on a devastating run down the right flank.
It was a performance that will boost England’s debut for the No.8 in the Six Nations opener against Ireland on February 1, with the 25-year-old in possession, currently absent from the back row for Scott Borthwick’s side.
There were also tries for Fergus Burke, who crossed twice, and Lucio Cinti gave Jamie George the win he was looking for in his 300th appearance for the club.
The Bears, thrashed 38-0 by Sale a week ago, fought back in the final stages of the match but left themselves with a lot to do on this occasion.
After early tries from Willis and Burke, Harry Randall hit back for Bristol from close range just when it looked like his side were running out of ideas.
Saracens suffered another setback when Maro Itoje was booked and sent to the sin bin for the eighth time in 21 games.The Bears kept the pressure on, only to concede consecutive penalties to see the six-time Premier League champions out.
Elliott Daley hit Saracens with 10 points from 50 meters out, the only score when Itoye was in the sin bin.
Kalaveti Ravuvu crossed in the 61st minute to give Bristol hope and the fightback continued when Harry Tucker finished off a lineout but Burke put the result beyond doubt before Jake Heenan struck late on.
Gloucester 36-20 Sale Sharks
Wales international Max Llewellyn scored two tries as Gloucester decisively ended Sale Sharks’ recent revival.
Llewellyn kicked in each half as Gloucester secured a maximum of five points to stay in play-off contention.
Sale’s hopes of securing a fourth straight premiership win were dashed by Gloucester’s outstanding first half which produced tries for Llewellyn, full-back Santi Carreras and winger Josh Hathaway.
Sale trailed 22-3 after 26 minutes and it was too much for them despite tries from skip Ben Curry, hurler Luke Cowan-Dickie and wing Tom Roebuck, with center Rob du Pres also converting a penalty.
Llewellyn’s 60th-minute score and Tomos Williams’ late spot-kick eventually saw Gloucester home, with Carreras finishing his performance with a penalty and four conversions for 16 points.
Sal were dealt a late blow when Raffi Quirke was withdrawn as an injury precaution.
“Leicester Tigers” 28-15 “Exeter Chiefs”.
Leicester struggled to a much-needed but unconvincing victory over struggling Exeter in a tough contest.
The Tigers had the better of the first half but the visitors dominated the second period until Will Rigg was sin-binned and can count themselves unlucky not to come away with at least a point.
Ollie Cracknell, Cameron Henderson, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Ben Youngs scored Leicester’s tries, while Handre Pollard converted all four.
For Exeter, two pieces of magic from Henry Slade created Tom Wyatt’s tries, one of which was converted by Josh Hodge. Slade also added a penalty.
Exeter took an early lead from Slade’s penalty, but after the first spell of pressure Leicester responded with a try from Cracknell as the No 8 was unstoppable from five meters out.
Leicester extended their lead after 31 minutes when Pollard’s half-break allowed Henderson to crash under the posts, but Pollard missed a long-range penalty as his side deservedly led 14-3 at the break.
Exeter scored a great try two minutes after the restart when Slade’s cross was gathered by Wyatt to run down the wing, while soon after Stu Townsend and Slade combined well to provide Wyatt with another move.
With 15 minutes remaining, Exeter lost substitute Rigg to bring on Freddie Steward and the Tigers immediately capitalized on a Hassell-Collins try, while Youngs scored late on to secure the narrowly earned bonus point.
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