New Zealand fly-half Carlos Spencer suffered a disappointing day as Newport-Gwent put his Northampton side to the sword with a 26-7 win in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
Spencer was sin-binned and out-played by his opposite number Ceri Sweeney as the Welsh side's triumph ensured Saints cannot make the semi-finals.
The Dragons took advantage of Spencer's absence and tries from Gareth Wyatt and Richard Fussell, combined with 13 points from Sweeney, ensured Northampton were condemned to defeat despite Mark Robinson's try.
Gloucester's John Goodridge scored two of his side's eight tries as they routed west country rivals Bristol 63-25.
Mark Foster got the first try for Gloucester in the 28th minute and that sparked an avalanche of scores for the home side, with Peter Richards, Ryan Lamb, James Bailey, James Forrester and Rory Lawson all crossing the line.
Ludovic Mercier added seven conversions to help Gloucester make up for last weekend's defeat against Ospreys.
Mariano Sambucetti and Andy Reay scored tries for Bristol who suffered their heaviest defeat at Kingsholm.
Leicester booked a place in the semi-finals after cruising to a 35-20 win at Worcester.
Pat Howard's team were too strong for their hosts and chalked up five tries, with Daryl Gibson getting two and John Murphy, Sam Vesty and James Buckland also scoring.
Gavin Quinnell and Ben Gotting grabbed tries for Worcester but they never threatened to cause an upset.
Howard singled out Olly Smith for praise and said: "Olly is coming back to form, he's got genuine pace and the way he handled the first try was very good."
Ospreys had to withstand a late revival from Bath before closing out a 31-24 win.
Tries from Jonny Vaughton and James Hook gave Ospreys a 18-9 lead at the interval before Stefan Terblanche added another for the Welsh side.
But Tom Cheeseman scored two tries in two minutes to bring Bath back into the match and it took drop goals from Terblanche and Hook to seal the win.
Harlequins are still without a win this season after suffering a narrow 27-28 defeat at home to Sale.
Dean Richards' side could have drawn level in injury time after Tom Williams scored a try, but Adrian Jarvis missed the conversion to hand Sale the victory. Harlequins duo Craig McMullen and David Strettle traded tries with Sale's Sean Cox and Oriol Ripol as the visitors edged in front at half-time.
Ugo Monye put Quins back in front but Daniel Larrachea kicked 13 points and Sililo Martens scored a try to give Sale a decisive advantage.
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As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
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