London Irish, Bath, Leicester and Gloucester all won in the race for the play-off places, while Leeds' loss sees them go down.

Harlequins lost a tight match at the Madejski Stadium, going down 13-6 against London Irish.

The visiting Quins held a narrow 3-0 lead for much of the match thanks to a 35th-minute Adrian Jarvis penalty, but a second-half yellow card for Mike Brown turned the match around.

Substitute Eoghan Hickey scored from the penalty that resulted from Brown's sin-binning offence to level the scores at 3-3, and the Exiles made the most of their numerical advantage when Hickey scored his second penalty minutes later.

A late try by right winger Topsy Oji looked to have denied Quins even a bonus point, but a last-ditch penalty by Jarvis secured the visitors a deserved consolation.

Harlequins were the only team in the top four to lose, as Leicester, Gloucester and Bath all won.

Bath's 23-20 win at Sixways against Worcester was the closest of the afternoon's fixtures. The west country outfit had a hat-trick of Tom Cheeseman tries to thank for their narrow victory. Miles Benjamin scored two tries for the luckless hosts, who were leading until nine minutes from time.

It was much easier for Leicester, who scored five tries to Bristol's two in a 32-14 canter at Welford Road. Aaron Mauger, Ben Herring, Tom Varndell and Andy Goode scored tries, while the Tigers were also awarded a second-half penalty try. Shaun Perry and Graeme Beveridge scored the tries for Bristol.

Gloucester enjoyed a similarly productive afternoon, as Akapusi Qera scored a hat-trick of tries in a 39-16 win against Leeds. The heavy defeat confirmed the Yorkshire side's relegation from the Premiership.

Sporting Life / Eurosport