RUGBY WRAP: Ashton brings up Premiership ton; overseas URC wins for Leinster, Munster and more!

Prem R19: Crucial wins for Sale, Tigers

Sale Sharks booked their place in the semi-finals thanks to a 36-20 win at Bristol while Leicester Tigers put 14-man Exeter Chiefs to the sword in a 62-19 at Welford Road to all but confirm their post-season participation. Sale are second on 60-points, while third-placed Leicester have 58 with just two rounds to play before the semi-finals.

In the process of Tigers’ win, Chris Ashton’s hattrick took him to 101 Premiership tries, making him the first player to score a century in the history of the competition.

Elsewhere, Bath upset Gloucester 33-24 at the Kingsholm, hosts Harlequins beat Falcons 48-20 and Northampton (four) boosted their playoff ambitions with a 38-29 defeat of leaders Saracens at Franklin’s Gardens.

URC R17: Leinster, Munster win in SA

The Sharks came back from 14-0 down to finally see off Benetton 43-33 at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Friday. Despite plenty of good moments against Toulouse the week prior, the hosts were far form convincing and again seem unable to stitch together any consistency in their performances. They remain eighth with the Italian outfit one place and five-points back.

The Bulls scored 11-tries to throttle Zebre 78-12 at Loftus on Saturday with Canan Moodie dotting down three times. Jake White’s boys are seventh, just two-points better off the Sharks and needed all the confidence they could get with unbeaten Leinster heading to Pretoria this weekend and the Sharks just two-points off them.

Elsewhere, the Stormers dropped to third after going down 24-26 to Munster in the Cape, the Lions’ playoff hopes ended in a last-gasp 36-39 loss to Leinster in Joburg, Glasgow beat Scarlets 12-9 at the Scotstoun, Ulster put Dragons away 40-19 in Belfast, Edinburgh won 45-21 against Ospreys in the Scottish capital and Connacht were too good for Cardiff in a 38-19 win in Galway.

Top 14 R22: Things tight as ever in playoff race

In the weekend’s Top 14 results, sixth-placed Racing saw off Bordeaux (seventh) 31-28 in Paris, Stade Francais (third) won 27-22 at Brive, Pau beat Clermont 23-18 at the Stade de Hameau, Toulon went fourth following a home 37-15 victory over Perpignan, Castres bagged a 28-19 win at Montpellier, second-placed La Rochelle eased past Bayonne 26-6 and leaders Toulouse held off fifth-placed Lyon 36-31 at the Stade Ernest-Wallon.

SR Pacific R8: Chiefs still undefeated

In Super Rugby Pacific, the sixth-placed Reds beat Moana Pasifika 40-28 at Apia Park, the second-placed Brumbies put away the Fijian Drua 43-28 in Canberra, the Chiefs won 33-17 at the Hurricanes (third) and the Waratahs defeated the Western Force 36-16 in Sydney.

Currie Cup R6: Pumas and Cheetahs maintain pace at the top

The Pumas smacked the Griffons 64-6 in Welkom, while the Free State Cheetahs came back to outlast Western Province 26-17 in Cape Town. Both winners sit first and second on the log respectively, locked on 25-points albeit with the men from Mbombela having a superior points difference.

In the other two results of the weekend, a hattrick from Sibongile Novuka powered the Blue Bulls to a 24-20 win over the Sharks in Durban and the Griquas upset the Golden Lions 25-18 in Johannesburg.