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Bristol Bears scored two tries inside the final five minutes to beat Harlequins 35-33 and extend their lead at the top of the Gallagher Premiership table. Elsewhere, London Irish edged Bath in a high scoring game, Northampton crushed Worcester and Sale beat Wasps late on.

Recap all of Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership action as Bristol, London Irish, Northampton and Sale Sharks picked up victories over Harlequins, Bath, Worcester and Wasps.

Bristol 35-33 Harlequins

Callum Sheedy’s last-gasp conversion gave Bristol a stunning 35-33 comeback victory over Harlequins in an enthralling contest at Ashton Gate to further extend their lead at the top of the Gallagher Premiership.

Two Bears tries in the final moments of the game snatched victory away from title rivals Harlequins, who had looked almost certain to inflict just a second home defeat on Bristol this season.

But the leaders showed their perseverance for a second successive week to boost their bid for a maiden Premiership crown.

It was an all-action, back-and-forth encounter between the Premiership’s first and third-placed teams, as Six Nations stars Sheedy, Kyle Sinckler, Ben Earl and Joe Marchant all returned to club duty.

London Irish 36-33 Bath

Two tries from Ben Loader helped London Irish maintain their excellent home record with a pulsating 36-33 win over Bath.

After a tight first half which ended with Bath trailing by just four points, their discipline unravelled after the break as they finished the contest with 13 men following red cards for Tom Dunn and Charlie Ewels.

Will Muir’s early try put Bath in front, the Loader and Matt Rogerson registered before the interval.

Anthony Watson marked his return from Six Nations duty with a try moments after the resumption but as their numerical advantage grew, Irish took control.

An inspired Tom Parton added a third, before Loader and Curtis Rona went over to give Irish a healthy lead.

They very nearly relinquished it after late scores from Josh McNally and Jack Walker gave Bath the consolation of two bonus points and had the game lasted five more minutes, the outcome may have been different.

Worcester Warriors 14-62 Northampton Saints

Chris Ashton was sent off in the 49th minute as Worcester’s nightmare season continued with a crushing 62-14 defeat to Northampton at Sixways.

The former England wing had earlier scored a Worcester try but his charge into a ruck saw his forearm make contact with an opponent’s head to pick up a red card.

His departure sealed Worcester’s fate as they fell to their 14th consecutive defeat, and they remain rooted to the bottom of the Gallagher Premiership table.

Ollie Sleightholme scored four tries for rampant Saints with George Furbank, Piers Francis, David Ribbans and Alex Mitchell grabbing the others. There was also a penalty try award, with James Grayson kicking a penalty and six conversions.

Ashton and Chris Pennell scored Worcester’s tries, with Billy Searle and Fin Smith each adding a conversion.

Wasps 19-20 Sale Sharks

A late Josh Beaumont try ensured Sale Sharks tightened their grip on a play-off spot courtesy of a 20-19 victory against Wasps in a game littered with yellow cards for the visitors.

Alex Sanderson’s side had four players sent to the sin-bin in the second half but never let their hosts get away from them and provided a sucker punch when Beaumont’s try was converted by Rob Du Preez with a minute remaining.

A fifth-place finish sealed by Saturday’s 32-18 defeat to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium completed a dismal Six Nations that has placed the head coach’s reign under scrutiny; RFU’s customary post-Championship review will begin in the coming days with no timeframe set for its completion

Eddie Jones admits his future lies in the hands of Twickenham but the head coach remains convinced he is the right man to lead England to the next World Cup.

A fifth-place finish sealed by Saturday’s 32-18 defeat to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium completed a dismal Six Nations that has placed Jones’ reign under intense scrutiny.

The Rugby Football Union’s customary post-Championship review will begin in the coming days with no timeframe set for its completion.

It is understood that Jones will be assessed on his historical achievements as well as the outcome of the tournament, with his success in plotting a route out of a similar slump in 2018 strengthening his position.

Senior players Maro Itoje, Mako Vunipola and Jonny May have given the Australian emphatic endorsements, insisting it is the players who must be held accountable for the reverse Triple Crown of losses to Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

When asked if he is the right man to take England forward, Jones replied “that’s for other people to answer, not for me to answer”, but added that he is “100 per cent” confident he can perform the role and the Six Nations outcome had not made him question himself.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I’m sure they’re angry. We expect to win and we expect to play better than we did,” said Jones in addressing the frustration of supporters.

“No one is more disappointed than the team and ourselves with what happened and the fans have got the right to be disappointed. We’re gutted by it.”

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England head coach Eddie Jones bemoaned his side’s lack of consistency after they were beaten 32-18 by Ireland in the Six Nations

England entered the Six Nations as champions after compiling an eight-Test winning run which also secured the Autumn Nations Cup, but cracks were already evident as performances failed to match results.

“Unfortunately I thought we were due for a period like this. Every team goes through it,” Jones added.

“International rugby, particularly at Six Nations level, you get to a certain stage and the success makes you a bit weak. You need to fight through that.

“It’s hard to be at the top of the tree all the time. And so the team goes through cycles of success and cycles of failure and I think that’s a normal part of sport.

“I knew that a tough period was coming, because we’ve had a good run, we’ve won games we probably shouldn’t have won.

“And you get on the other side of the ledger where you lose games that you should have won and it becomes tough. We’re in that period now.”

France’s scheduled Six Nations game with Scotland on Sunday was postponed; Coach Fabien Galthie and 11 players tested positive for Covid-19; Galthie left squad bubble to watch son play rugby after win over Italy in Rome

France head coach Fabien Galthie retains the support of his federation after it emerged he left the squad’s bubble on the opening weekend of the Six Nations to watch his son play rugby.

France’s round three game against Scotland on Sunday was postponed because of an outbreak of coronavirus, with Galthie providing the first positive test after a 15-13 victory over Ireland in Dublin on February 14.

Eleven players, including star scrum-half Antoine Dupont and captain Charles Ollivon, have been diagnosed with Covid-19, prompting French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu to demand answers.

Maracineanu has threatened to withdraw France from the Six Nations amid reports that players went out to eat waffles while in Rome to face Italy in round one.

But French Rugby Federation president Bernard Laporte has now revealed that the day after the 50-10 win over Italy, Galthie attended the Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris to see his son Mathis play.

“For me, he has the right to leave from the moment he is masked. He was outside,” Laporte told France 3 television channel.

Galthie left the team bubble to watch his son play in Paris

“He watched the match alongside (Stade Francais director general) Thomas Lombard, who himself is tested every three days and also wore a mask. I don’t see where the problem could be. But then again I’m not a doctor.

“Why wouldn’t I support him (Galthie)? I am not a prosecutor. And it’s not because I really like Fabien. He knows very well that I don’t give gifts to people.”

The Six Nations have yet to reveal a date for the re-arranged match between tournament favourites France and Scotland.

Eddie Jones admits it is ‘almost impossible’ for England to win the Six Nations after losing in Cardiff; Jones calls on his players to show resilience and stick together in final two fixtures against France and Ireland

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Eddie Jones says England must learn to ‘overcome’ tough circumstances after two controversial first-half calls from the referee resulted in Wales tries

Eddie Jones has demanded England remain unified as they “dig in” with the aim of salvaging something from their dismal Six Nations campaign.

Emphatic defeats by Scotland and Wales have removed the champions from title contention, with Saturday’s controversial 40-24 defeat in Cardiff once again exposing ruinous levels of indiscipline.

Six Nations favourites France visit Twickenham on March 13 before England face Ireland in Dublin in the final round – two tough assignments to prevent further damage being done.

Jones has called for his players to show resilience and stick together in the quest for a meaningful last fortnight to the tournament.

“It’s going to be almost impossible for us to win the championship now so we just have to approach France as another opportunity for us to get back on the front foot,” said Jones.

“We will dig in. It’s the only thing we have got to do now, dig in. It is a great challenge for the team.

“I thought some of our rugby against Wales was really good. Sometimes you play rugby and don’t get the result; sometimes you play terrible rugby and you do get the result.

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England captain Owen Farrell admitted their discipline ‘wasn’t the best’ against Wales

“We are going in the right direction. We still have areas to improve and we have to make sure we stick together and dig in.

“We have been through these periods before. Every team goes through these. I don’t know of a team that doesn’t.

“Everyone is going to have an opinion. Some might be right, but we just have to make sure we listen to what is important and the important thing is what goes on in the team.

“We know how hard we are working and we know what direction we are going in and we will get out of this.”

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Sky Sports News reporter James Cole reflects on a dramatic Six Nations victory for Wales against England

Jones’ squad have already started a pre-scheduled week off and when they return to the camp on Sunday they will begin urgent repairs to the kamikaze discipline that placed them on the wrong side of a 14-9 penalty count at the Principality Stadium.

The most guilty offender was Maro Itoje, who gave away five penalties and who, in the eyes of Wales boss Wayne Pivac, should have been sin-binned on the basis of accumulation of offences.

Itoje is England’s most effective player but Jones knows he must make some adjustments to his game.

Maro Itoje conceded five penalties against Wales

“Maro is one of the best players in the world and he plays the game on the edge,” said Jones.

“I can remember the same sort of discussion being had about (former Australia captain) George Smith at one stage. Sometimes the referees tend to over-referee a player like him.

“At the same time, there are areas of the game he needs to tidy up and he knows that. He’s a good boy, a good player. There are just a few things in his game he needs to tidy up.”

Fly-half George Ford is convinced the current malaise is a temporary blip that can be reversed.

“We’ve been through this before. It’s part of learning, part of winning, and we’ll come through it,” Ford said.

“One hundred per cent we’ll come through this. Stick together, fix things up, be honest with each other and move on.”

Wales back George North missed the win against Scotland last weekend after sustaining a foot injury against Ireland on the opening weekend of this year’s Six Nations; North will hope to help maintain Wales’ Grand Slam bid when England visit Cardiff on February 27

George North is in line to win his 100th Wales cap against England in the Six Nations after returning to training.

North missed Wales’ win against Scotland at Murrayfield last Saturday with a foot injury sustained during the opening weekend 21-16 victory over Ireland earlier this month.

The 28-year-old could now reach a landmark appearance when Eddie Jones’ side visit Cardiff on February 27 as Wales look to maintain their Grand Slam bid.

Wales attack coach Stephen Jones said: “George is making good progress, every day he is improving.

“He’s taken part in some sort of training already, which is great, and that’s the good thing from our perspective.

“I believe it is a full green light.”

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Alun Wyn Jones says this is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ for Louis Rees-Zammit after his match-winning try for Wales over Scotland on Saturday

Fellow centres Johnny Williams and Jonathan Davies are also back in training to strengthen head coach Wayne Pivac’s midfield options, while flanker Josh Navidi has overcome the neck injury which forced him to miss the Scotland win.

Meanwhile, full-back Leigh Halfpenny, who was injured against Scotland, and wing Hallam Amos are going through HIA protocols.

Scrum-half Tomos Williams has been ruled out with a hamstring problem.

Jones said: “Hallam and Leigh are still going through the protocols. But Johnny Williams is good, it’s the same with Navidi’s neck and Jonathan Davies.”