Saracens beat Northampton to stay top

Saracens remained at the top of the table after disposing of Northampton 28-24 at Allianz Park.
Sarries are now ten points clear of the Saints and are likely to end the regular season at the top of the pile for the second consecutive year.
David Strettle opened the scoring with his tenth Premiership try of the season but Northampton reacted swiftly to take a 10-5 lead thanks to a penalty try and five points from the tee by Stephen Myler.
That was as good as it got for the Saints though, Kelly Brown first got over the line before Marcelo Bosh and Owen Farrell shared 11 points with the boot to make it 21-10 at the break.
Man-of-the-match Bosh added a try to his brilliant performance to seal the game off just before the hour mark although Luther Burrell and George North‘s tries in the last ten minutes set-up a tense finish.
In the other game of the day, Andy Fenby scored a hat-trick to help London Irish thump Newcastle 40-12 in Reading.
Fenby went over twice either side of one from Fergus Mulchrone within 15 minutes to see the Exiles lead 19-6.
The Falcons reduced the gap with two penalties through Rory Clegg on the half hour but three further tries before half-time rounded up a perfect period from London Irish.
First Eamon Sheridan got on the act before Fenby completed his hat-trick and Gareth Ellis touched down to make it 40-12 – a score that remained until the end of the game.