Leeds Tykes up and running after late Junior Nu'u strike sinks Esher

The Surrey side drew first blood with an unconverted try after three minutes, but a sin-binning shortly after gave the Yorkshire side a way in, and they took it after 10 minutes with left winger Seremaia Turagabeci weaving through for a try converted by stand-off Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley.

Esher pulled back a try on 17 minutes, only for flanker Grayson Maguire to restore Leeds’ advantage shortly before half time.

Shortly after the break it was Tykes’ turn for a yellow card, and Esher were awarded a penalty try which gave them a lead which always looked fragile.

A converted try for the home side left Leeds with some work to do, but they were up to the challenge with second row John Okafor’s try being converted by Maxwell-Whiteley.

In the last few minutes Leeds secured the win with replacement Junior Nu’u crashing over to retake the lead.

Hull were soundly beaten 66-19 at home by leaders Rosslyn Park to leave themselves bottom of the early table.

Winger Mike Adlard touched down and full-back Reece Dean converted following a clever chip-through from stand-off Joe Carlisle, but they were already 31-7 down at half time.

Back row Sione Afu crossed the line for a try for Hull early in the second period, and replacement Sefo Turaga added their third, but it was no more than a consolation.

Despite going behind after just three minutes, Wharfedale ran in six unanswered tried to beat hosts Blaydon 46-7 in National Two (North).

Left winger Rob Davidson, right winger Josh Prell, hooker Ben Wright, scrum-half Sam Gaudie, stand-off Tom Mann and replacement Joe Fawcett all touched down, while Mann kicked two penalties and five conversions.

Wharfedale are now level on points with Rotherham Titans, who won 37-7 against Tynedale at Clifton Lane.

No 8 Callum Bustin ran in two tries for the Yorkshire side, while other tries came from stand-off Corben Ollivent and left winger Fraser Jones, while centre Richard Hayes kicked all four conversions and added three penalties.

Otley emerged 24-8 winners from their Yorkshire derby match with Sheffield Tigers.

Stand-off Eddie Crossland pounced on the loose ball after charging down a clearance kick by Tigers, and Gavin Stead’s conversion put Otley 7-0 ahead.

Tigers full-back Harry Chapman kicked a penalty to narrow the gap, but Otley extended their lead with full-back Charlie Morgan touching down.

Lee Monks touched down in the corner as Tigers closed the gap, but Brandon Staples’ try kept the West Yorkshire side in front.

In the second half Luke Cole scored Otley’s fourth and final try to secure the bonus point, and Joe Rowntree converted.

Leading 24-17 just before the hour mark, Hull Ionians conceded three more tries and lost out 34-31 at home against Fylde.

Centres Josh Britton and Lewis Minikin scored a try each, while left winger Nathan Hill and No 8 George Mewburn also touched down for the Yorkshire side, with Minikin kicking four conversions and a penalty.

Sub Jude Noble’s try with ten minutes left was Sheffield’s only score of the match as they lost out 8-5 at Chester.

Elsewhere, there were defeats for Harrogate and Huddersfield. Harrogate were beaten 41-10 by visitors Sedgley Park, and Huddersfield lost out 32-12 at Preston Grasshoppers.

York were 11-18 winners at Doncaster Phoenix, knocking the South Yorkshire side off the top of the early Regional 1 North East table.

Elsewhere Driffield enjoyed a big 100-12 win against West Bridgford to go top of the table, while Heath won 50-16 over Scunthorpe to move up to second.

Mark McCall declared that Owen Farrell “lives for those moments” after watching Saracens’ captain kick successive conversions in a dramatic 41-39 Gallagher Premiership victory over Gloucester.

Trailing by 12 points heading into the final 10 minutes, Saracens completed the second fightback of a rollercoaster clash at StoneX Stadium when replacement hooker Tom Woolstencroft finished two tries from line-out drives.

Farrell needed to land both conversions from similar positions five metres in from the touchline to secure the win and the England fly-half duly delivered, with the second dropping between the posts in the final act of the game.

Gloucester head coach George Skivington admitted “I’d packed my bags at that point” when he saw Farrell prepare for the kick and McCall also had total conviction it was going over.

“I’m not sure we’d rather have anyone else kicking. He’s done it time and time again,” Saracens director of rugby McCall said.

“He lives for those moments. Having that competitive spirit on the field at that stage of the match is exactly what you want.”