prem

Northampton went top of the English Prem with a hard-fought bonus point 36-19 victory over rock-bottom Newcastle Red Bulls on Friday as Bristol downed Gloucester in a 12-try thriller.

Northampton Saints went top of the Prem table with an ultimately comfortable victory at Kingston Park which left Newcastle Red Bulls still searching for a first league win of the campaign.

It was a blow that they failed to recover from and, with hope evaporating, a Smith penalty and a rampaging 30-yard dash from Alex Coles made it three wins and a draw in four Prem outings for unbeaten Northampton.

Ford, who started all three Test matches on England's summer tour of Argentina and the United States while Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were on British and Irish Lions duty, also turned down "a couple of opportunities" overseas to stay in the Prem and available to England.

Sale have reached the play-offs in each of four of their past five Prem campaigns, without being able to claim the title.