Sunday 25 March 2018 12:08, UK
Saracens and Newcastle Falcons recorded key victories in the Aviva Premiership at the London Stadium and St James' Park.
Elsewhere London Irish came close to securing a victory in their 'St Patrick's Day fixture' at the Madejski Stadium, while Sale Sharks notched up over a half-century of points at home.
Take a look around the grounds with one game of the round still to play - Leicester Tigers against Wasps.
Saracens returned to winning ways in the Aviva Premiership as they saw off Harlequins 24-11 at the London Stadium.
Tries from returning internationals Liam Williams and Maro Itoje, plus 14 points from the boot of Alex Lozowski, proved the difference in front of a crowd of 55,329.
Mark McCall's side led 18-6 at the break courtesy of those tries from Williams and Itoje and the accuracy of their fly-half's boot.
Quins came out firing at the start of the second half and appeared to have the momentum with them when captain James Horwill crashed through the Saracens defence for the visitors' first try.
But the positive vibes did not last long. Another penalty from Alex Lozowski restored the north London outfit's 10-point advantage and their defence kept Harlequins at arm's length.
A yellow card for Saracens replacement Max Malins for knocking the ball into touch deliberately gave Quins some hope, but Lozowski made sure of the result in the 78th minute with his fourth penalty.
A record crowd roared Newcastle Falcons to a narrow 25-22 victory over Northampton Saints at St James' Park.
In front of 30,174 fans, a record for the Falcons, the hosts delivered a gritty performance and Newcastle United fan Toby Flood delivered six penalties and a conversion.
The encounter was poised at 16-12 after the first 40 minutes. Flood opened the scoring after just four minutes, though Sinoti Sinoti was denied a try prior to that following a TMO review.
Saints' first-half scores came through David Ribbans and Rob Horne with Flood's boot, and flyer Vereniki Goneva, adding to Falcons' tally.
After the break the 32-year-old pushed Falcons into a 19-12 lead before Nafi Tuitavake's converted score levelled the game at 19-19.
Flood and Stephen Myler then exchanged penalties before Falcons' final successful penalty secured the victory.
Gloucester bolstered their Aviva Premiership play-off bid with a bonus-point following a 33-29 thriller in Reading.
The Exiles led by 17 points after 18 minutes thanks to tries by Josh McNally and Piet van Zyl, while full-back James Marshall added two conversions and a penalty.
However, Gloucester wiped out that deficit before the break in front of a 15,200 crowd as hooker James Hanson, wing Tom Marshall and flanker Lewis Ludlow touched down in rapid succession, with Billy Twelvetrees kicking two conversions.
The second period began with the Cherry and Whites in dominant mood as Marshall scored a second try and centre Mark Atkinson also breached Irish's defence.
Billy Burns added both conversions - but the hosts responded impressively through five-pointers from Theo Brophy-Clews and Joe Cokanasiga, plus a Tommy Bell conversion.
Gloucester's bonus-point win moves them into the top five, with Irish's two match points leaving them 10 adrift at the foot of the Premiership table.
Sale Sharks also boosted their Aviva Premiership top-four hopes following a dominant 58-25 triumph over Worcester Warriors at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Steve Diamond's charges were on the front foot from the start and touched down via Ben Curry and Faf de Klerk.
Jamie Shillcock responded with two penalties for Worcester, but wings Marland Yarde and Denny Solomona gave the hosts a comfortable buffer at the break.
Josh Adams and Mike Haley traded tries at the beginning of the second half before Josh Strauss and Byron McGuigan added to the away side's pain.
Adams went over to complete his brace but a De Klerk penalty took the Sharks past the half-century in reply.
James O'Connor then crossed the whitewash and - although Jackson Willison garnered some sort of consolation for the Midlanders - the Greater Manchester outfit moved up to sixth in the table as a result.
