Northampton ran in eight tries in a solid 58-21 win over second-placed Gloucester that provided a perfect warm-up for their Powergen Cup final against London Irish next Saturday.

Tom Smith, Steve Thompson and Andy Rennick scored in the first half and Ben Cohen, Peter Jorgensen, Budge Pountney, Nick Beal and Jon Phillips touched down after the break.

Gloucester's fragile defence was taken apart as England internationals Matt Dawson and Cohen ended their title challenge.

Gloucester were also let down by indiscipline, with French hooker Olivier Azam sent to the sin-bin in the 20th minute for an off-the-ball incident and Patrice Collazu shown a late yellow card.

· Sale and Bristol scored 36 points between them in a remarkable final 20 minutes of another high-scoring match that the London side eventually won 53-47.

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