Ashton: Trademark finish

England winger Chris Ashton scored two tries for Northampton as Newcastle were dismissed 44-15 at Franklin's Gardens.

Saints centre Tom May also crossed twice - his first two tries for the club - while Russian winger Vasily Artemyev added two more to take his tally to six in three matches since arriving at Northampton following the World Cup.

Ryan Lamb, who was involved in the build-up to the first three tries, contributed 12 points, with two penalties and three conversions, with his replacement Stephen Myler adding a conversion.

Kiwi fly-half Jimmy Gopperth scored all Newcastle's points, with four penalties and a drop goal.

Harlequins cemented their place at the top of the table when they beat Exeter 19-13 at The Stoop.

Quins' victory enabled them to extend their run to nine straight wins in all competitions but they were pushed to the end by a battling Exeter side.

Nick Evans scored 14 points for the home team in what was their toughest test of the season to date.

A controversial late try by centre Brad Barritt and a Owen Farrell touchline conversion gave reigning champions Saracens a last-gasp 19-17 victory to end Gloucester's 22-match winning run at Kingsholm.

It was the only time Saracens led in the match and the result kept them in second place.

Sam Vesty's late penalty gave Bath a 13-12 victory over London Irish in a closely fought encounter at the Madejski Stadium.

Bath dominated the early exchanges and led 5-0 at half-time but Irish started the second half strongly and Tom Homer landed two penalties to edge them ahead 6-5.

Bath regained the lead when Dave Attwood went over in the corner for their second try before Homer booted over his third and fourth penalties to give Irish a 12-10 lead.

But Vesty had the final word with the penalty in the closing minutes following an infringement by Shontayne Hape.