London Irish youngster Tom Homer kicked 22 points in his side's victory over Northampton at the Madejski Stadium © Getty Images

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News: Bath look to get back on track

Preview: Game of the Week - Harlequins v Sale

Match Pack: Quins maintain play-off push

Matches: Harlequins 38 - 20 Sale Sharks | Wasps 21 - 19 Bristol Bears | Worcester Warriors 14 - 10 Gloucester Rugby | London Irish 32 - 27 Northampton Saints | Leicester Tigers 46 - 16 Saracens | Bath Rugby 36 - 25 Newcastle Falcons

Tournaments/Tours: Guinness Premiership

Teams: Bath Rugby | Bristol Bears | England | Gloucester Rugby | Harlequins | Leicester Tigers | London Irish | Newcastle Falcons | Northampton Saints | Sale Sharks | Saracens | Wasps | Worcester Warriors

Picture Gallery: Guinness Premiership 2008-09 - Round 18

Leicester Tigers moved top of the Guinness Premiership on Saturday after defeating Saracens in a six-try 46-16 romp at Welford Road.

Two tries from former New Zealand fullback Scott Hamilton, the second a long-range effort which sealed the bonus point, took the Tigers to their fifth straight league win under acting head coach Richard Cockerill.

Centre Dan Hipkiss marked his 100th appearance for Leicester with a try and the Tigers' domination was reflected in the award of a penalty try when Saracens collapsed a sequence of scrums close to their own line

Bath also reinforced their play-off credentials by ending Newcastle's six-match winning run with a 36-25 win in the Guinness Premiership Round 18's opening game on Saturday lunch-time

World Cup winning fly-half Butch James was the key figure, kicking five first half penalties, although he was also sin-binned, before two tries from Joe Maddock and an Andy Beattie touchdown took the game away from the Falcons.

On Sunday, Harlequins ran in four second-half tries on their way to a 38-20 victory over Sale to maintain their push for a play-off spot. Check out the full report from our Game of the Week.

London Irish edged a nail-biting encounter 32-27 against a gallant Northampton side in front of a 21,000 crowd at the Madejski Stadium. It was end-to-end stuff with from Tom Homer kicking eight from eight on his way to 22 points.

Bruce Reihana and Roger Wilson notched first-half tries for the Saints but a try from Adam Thompstone and Homer saw the hosts take a one point lead into the break. But three Reihana penalties restored Saints' lead.

However, 19-year-old Homer responded with three more penalties of his own before the Exiles were rewarded for a sustained spell of pressure with a penalty try. A late score from Reihana saw the Saints escape with a losing bonus point.

London Irish coach Toby Booth hailed the performance of his teenage fullback, saying, "Homer does that week-in week-out in training. He is a metronomic kicker and is a natural at it. He's a great striker of the ball and therefore the ball goes absolutely straight. He's forgotten he's only 18 and has kicked us to victory before a large crowd."

Gloucester's decision to allow Willie Walker to play in their clash with Worcester backfired spectacularly as the on-loan fly-half kicked the Warriors to a 14-10 victory and closer to Guinness Premiership safety.

Walker joined Worcester on loan last month after Gloucester recruited Carlos Spencer from Northampton. But there was no clause in the agreement which prevented Walker playing in this fixture and he proved a pivotal figure, landing three penalties in nine first-half minutes. In contrast Spencer fluffed a kickable first minute penalty and he struggled to spark his three-quarters in a sloppy Gloucester performance which dented their hopes of a play-off place.

Gloucester dominated the game for long periods but they were frustrated by the ferocity and commitment of Worcester's defence, particularly in a scoreless second half, and had to settle for a first half penalty try to secure the losing bonus point.

Wasps pushed Bristol to the brink of relegation but failed to convince that their Heineken Cup qualification ambitions will be realised with a haphazard 21-19 victory at Adams Park.

The form book appeared to offer a clear indication - Wasps last tasted defeat at Adams Park in November, while Bristol have not won away in the Premiership all season - but Bristol, who will now have their relegation confirmed if they lose at home to Worcester next week, did not play at all like a team without hope.

Wasps head coach Shaun Edwards admitted that his side look tired after they struggled to victory. "A few of those players have played every game - Serge (Betsen) has played 12 or 13 games on the trot. They need a break, some of them have been playing every single week during that time and we've lost two matches, which is a magnificent effort when we've often had 11 or 12 players missing.

"It was a tired performance today from players who haven't had a rest because of internationals being away. We had some words at half-time and the second half was more of what we expect from people wearing that Wasps shirt."

Director of rugby Ian McGeechan denied that Danny Cipriani's non-appearance for the second half was purely down to a recurrence of his ankle injury, adding a touch of intrigue to whether McGeechan will pick the high profile fly-half when he names his Lions tour squad next month.

McGeechan said: "He (Danny) is carrying it (the ankle) a little bit but it was partly that and partly tactical. His game is steadily improving but there are bits we need to keep working on."

• Game of the Week - Harlequins 38-20 Sale
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