Exeter thump Gloucester; Leicester and Bath win in Cup

Campbell Ridl's hat-trick helped Exeter Chiefs thrash Gloucester 48-14 in the Prem Rugby Cup at Sandy Park.

The scores were level at the break, but the home side roared to a comprehensive victory in the second half.

Ridl and Zack Wimbrush both saw tries converted by Harvey Skinner before the break, but Gloucester kept pace thanks to scores from Max Knight and Matias Almanno.

Exeter ramped up the pressure and ran away with the match as Ridl added another two tries, while Will Goodrick-Clarke, Ethan Roots and Paul Brown-Bampo all got in on the act.

Skinner added a further 13 points with the boot to round off what became a straightforward afternoon for the Chiefs as they strengthened their lead at the top of Pool A.

Meanwhile, Pool B leaders Leicester Tigers came back to defeat Saracens 31-26 with Bath edging out Bristol 33-24 to keep within two points of Exeter in Pool A.

Josh Manz crossed the line two minutes from time for Leicester before Orlando Bailey converted from the touchline to clinch victory at the StoneX Stadium.

Earlier on, Alex Lozowski's opener put Sarries in control after 10 minutes when he collected Louie Johnston's searching kick and surge over the line before Johnston converted.

Tommy Reffell responded almost immediately for the Tigers, breaking away from the maul to score and Bailey converted to level.

But celebrations were short lived as Tayo Adegbemile bulldozed his way over to put Sarries back ahead, before Rotimi Segun added a third score.

Reffell scored his second try of the match to reduce the arrears and make it 21-12, but the conversion was missed.

Finn Theobald-Thomas cut the gap to just four points after half-time, but a number of blows were still to be traded. Ollie Allan scored before ex-Sarries man Tom Whiteley kicked Leicester into a 24-21 lead.

Segun's second put Sarries ahead but the final twist came when crossed following a maul to secure a dramatic win at the death.

Bath sealed their win over Bristol Bears thanks to three second half tries from Charlie Griffin and Arthur Green.

Bristol saw three tries, from Max Pepper, Gabriel Ibitoye and Harry Rendell all converted by Sam Worseley, who also added a penalty.

But it wasn't enough to contain the hosts, who stepped up having trailed 17-14 at the break.