Friday’s Prem Rugby fixtures see Bristol Bears win away at rivals Gloucester and Northampton Saints win big at Newcastle Red Bulls; Saints’ victory temporarily moves them top of the Prem table, while Bristol move into third; West Country clash sees 12 tries scored

Bristol Bears won a Prem Rugby contest involving 12 tries vs West Country rivals Gloucester

Gloucester slipped to a fourth successive Prem defeat of the season as west country rivals Bristol toppled them 49-34 at Kingsholm.

The derby clash produced 12 tries, but Bristol made it three wins out of four thanks to doubles from Gabriel Oghre and Kalaveti Ravouvou, while Fitz Harding, Viliame Mata and Sam Worsley also crossed, with Worsley adding seven conversions for a 19-point haul.

Gloucester conjured five tries of their own – Will Joseph, Matias Alemanno, James Venter, Seb Blake and Josiah Edwards-Giraud crossing – with Ross Byrne kicking three conversions and a penalty.

But George Skivington’s team were once again left wondering what might have been, as a winning touch again eluded them.

Newcastle Falcons 19-36 Northampton Saints

Northampton claimed their third Prem Rugby win of the season with a 36-19 victory over Newcastle.

Saints scored two tries in the opening 10 minutes through JJ van der Mescht and Alex Mitchell, but Newcastle fought back as Oli Spencer and Amanaki Mafi grounded either side of Van der Mescht’s yellow card.

Tommy Freeman extended the visitors’ lead to 21-12 at half-time, but Van der Mescht was shown a second yellow and a 20-minute red card in the early stages of the second half and Stefan Coetzee soon struck.

Edoardo Todaro then crossed for the visitors and any hopes of a late Newcastle comeback were ended when Fin Smith kicked a penalty before Alex Coles touched down.

Northampton have now won their last three straight league games to move top of the fledgling table, while Newcastle remain winless at the bottom.