Wasps moved into fourth place in the English Rugby Premiership with a 33-22 win over London Irish at Adams Park on Sunday.

The hosts stormed into an early 13-0 lead and although Irish hit back with a Seilala Mapusua score, tries from Tom Varndell and Dan Ward-Smith re-established a 13-point lead by half-time.

Dominic Waldouck finished off a superb Wasps move to increase their lead before Steffon Armitage and James Tideswell tries set up a edgy closing period.

But Wasps fly-half Danny Cipriani secured the victory five minutes from time with a penalty.

On Saturday, leaders Leicester ended Bath's impressive recent run by romping to a 43-20 victory at Welford Road.

Alesana Tuilagi ran in the first try with just 26 seconds on the clock and Bath, given a rough time by the Tigers pack, looked a pale shadow of the team that had rattled off seven successive league wins.

By the break they were 25-13 behind after conceding two more tries to Tuilagi and lock Geoff Parling.

Second-half scores by Anthony Allen and a penalty try confirmed the Tigers' superiority. Bath could only muster a try in each half by wings Joe Maddock and Matt Banahan.

Northampton had to dig deep before finally earning a 14-7 win over Leeds at Headingley Carnegie.

The Saints had an abundance of possession but did not seal victory until three minutes from the end with a try from the impressive Ben Foden.

Battling Leeds secured a valuable bonus point in their fight against relegation.

Harlequins ended any lingering relegation fears with a 23-14 victory over Newcastle in which fly-half Nick Evans was the star, scoring all his team's points with two tries, two conversions and three penalties.

Sale gave themselves breathing space at the bottom as they saw off basement side Worcester 17-3 in a crucial relegation scrap at Edgeley Park.

The Sharks led 9-0 at the break thanks to a penalty and two drop goals from Charlie Hodgson. Fly-half Willie Walker and wing Chris Pennell were off target with penalty attempts for the Warriors.

Walker eventually got the visitors on the board with a penalty but it was not enough for Mike Ruddock's side as Hodgson added another penalty and wing Mark Cueto crossed for a try to seal the win for the hosts.

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