Dismal Bath returned to the Premiership basement after West Country rivals Bristol brushed them aside 31-17 in front of a 10 000 Memorial Stadium crowd on Sunday.

Bath crashed to their sixth league defeat from eight starts, and were never seriously in contention as Bristol led 31-3 midway through the second half.

Tries from halfbacks Gareth Cooper and Olly Barkley provided scant consolation as Bath sorely missed the presence of seven internationals.

Bristol, for who this was only their second league win against their fierce rivals, were deprived their Argentinian halfbacks Agustin Pichot and Felipe Contepomi through Test calls, but their forwards displayed a far healthier appetite for the physical exchanges.

Bristol's former England lock Garath Archer led from the front, producing a towering lineout display and putting in several crunching tackles. He also scored Bristol's opening try, and was a deserved Man of the Match recipient.

Northampton's problems look set to continue after the Saints crumbled to an embarrassing 48-12 defeat at the hands of London Irish on Sunday.

The visitors at least managed to avoid total humiliation with a late rally with saw Craig Moir and Peter Jorgensen touch down in the last 10 minutes after Northampton had trailed 48-0.

The Saints' performance will have done little to appease chairman Keith Barwell either, who this week pledged a radical shake-up at Franklin's Gardens because of the team's poor start to the season.

Northampton have slipped to 11th in the Zurich Premiership and were only spared the ignominy of slumping to bottom spot by Bath's surprise 31-17 defeat by Bristol.

The accuracy of David Walder, who scored all his side's points, helped Newcastle edge an 18-16 victory over Gloucester in the Zurich Premiership on Sunday and keep up their challenge in second place.

He grabbed the opportunity once more to shine in the absence of Jonny Wilkinson and, after putting over six successful penalties, was denied a 100 per cent record in the 81st minute when he struck an upright.

Gloucester deservedly led 13-9 at the interval after repeatedly snuffing out the Newcastle attacks and scored the only try of the game in the 18th minute. But in the end they conceded just too many penalties, which Walder made them pay for.

On Saturday, Scottish international winger Kenny Logan returned from injury to score two tries for bottom of the Zurich Premiership side Wasps as they routed Leeds 64-14 at Loftus road.

Alex King was Man of the Match, having made six conversions and kicking four penalties and a drop goal.

Wasps outscored their hapless opponents by seven tries to one, including a score by new South African recruit Stuart Abbott (pictured).

Leicester kick-started the defence of their Zurich Premiership title with a rousing second-half show to condemn one of their nearest challengers, Sale Sharks, to a 37-3 defeat.

England captain Martin Johnson provided the steadying influence on his return from a broken hand as the Tigers bounced back from their shock defeat at Leeds to open up an eight-point lead over Sale.

Both sides were missing seven players through Test calls and injuries, but it was an international discard Geordan Murphy who dominated the game with a hugely impressive two-try performance.

Murphy, dropped by Ireland for their match against the All Blacks, was handed the fullback role ahead of Tim Stimpson and made the most of his opportunity with a series of incisive breaks. It was his try on the stroke of halftime which turned a finely-balanced match into something of a rout.

On Friday, Harlequins justified director of rugby John Kingston's confidence in them by trouncing their London rivals Saracens 43-6 in the Zurich Premiership at The Stoop.

Kingston, who took over the role of head coach this summer, claims he knew Harlequins would come good after their slow start to the season.

Irish flyhalf Paul Burke was Harlequins' hero with a personal tally of 28 points to ease his team to a convincing win over their fellow title challengers.

Quins ran in four tries to earn a vital bonus point, despite being without the services of internationals Jason Leonard, Will Greenwood, Dan Luger and Keith Wood.