Aviva Premiership round-up: Missed conversion costs Sale victory against Saracens, wins for Northampton and Gloucester
Sale Sharks 36-36 Saracens
Sale fly-half Danny Cipriani missed a late match-winning conversion as the Sharks battled out a remarkable 36-36 draw with Saracens at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Saracens men went into the game off the back of an impressive 24-12 victory over Gloucester, yet the hosts surged into a 17-0 lead in the Aviva Premiership tussle through tries from Sam James, Johnny Leota and Tom Arscott
However, it wasn’t long before Saracens came back brilliantly to be in front by the interval.
Jim Hamilton and Chris Wyles, who scored a pair of tries, touched down, while Charlie Hodgson and Ben Spencer added the conversions.
Retiring Hodgson, on his last appearance at the club where he started his career, also kicked a penalty before he was forced off the field with a head injury.
Cipriani kicked three penalties in the second period, but scores by Nick Tompkins and Mike Ellery moved the visitors 36-26 ahead.
TJ Ioane and Arscott crossed for tries late on to level the scores, which presented Cipriani with the chance to win it for his side.
But the fly-half was off-target with both conversions, the last of them following a 79th-minute try, and it proved costly as Sale had to settle for a share of the points.
Northampton 38-18 Worcester
Tom Collins scored his first senior hat-trick as Northampton ran out 38-18 winners in a ding-dong battle with Worcester at Franklin's Gardens.
The 21-year-old showed electric pace and clever feet to help Saints to a much-needed bonus point win and avenge their opening-day defeat at Worcester.
Worcester played their part in an entertaining clash with two tries of their own from Val Rapava-Ruskin and Wynand Olivier giving them a 15-12 half-time lead.
The game was still hanging in the balance until Collins scored his side's fifth try with 14 minutes remaining. Harry Mallinder, Lee Dickson and George Pisi went over for Northampton's other tries.
Gloucester 32-6 Newcastle
Fifteen points from James Hook kept Gloucester in contention for Aviva Premiership play-off and Champions Cup places with a convincing 32-6 victory over Newcastle at Kingsholm.
Hook scored an individual try and kicked two penalties and two conversions before being replaced by Billy Burns with 16 minutes remaining.
Bill Meakes, Ross Moriarty, and Tom Savage also scored tries for Gloucester. Billy Twelvetrees added a conversion with Craig Willis kicking two penalties for the Falcons.
Gloucester's win should have been even greater for they led 20-0 midway through the first half, but three missed kicks from Hook and an error-ridden second-half performance from them kept the scoreline respectable for a very ordinary Newcastle side.