Samu Manoa treble for Northampton Saints against Sale in Premiership

Ken Pisi and Manoa touched down early on at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday before Danny Cipriani scored a lacklustre Sale's only three points of the opening 40 minutes with a penalty at the midway point.

George Pisi added his own name to the scoresheet shortly after the half-hour mark when he collected the ball from brother Ken following a cross-field kick from Stephen Myler, whose seven-point contribution helped Northampton to a 22-3 lead at the interval.

Manoa completed his hat-trick with two quickfire tries at the beginning of the second half, earning the home side a bonus point in the process, before Mark Jennings gave Sale a measure of consolation by going over following good work by Tom Brady.

Kahn Fotuali'i gathered a loose ball to register Northampton's sixth try of the encounter before time was up, sending the defending champions three points clear at the summit ahead of their European Rugby Champions Cup opener at Racing Metro next weekend.

Saracens moved into second place with a hard-fought 28-21 triumph over Gloucester.

Following a tight first half that ended 15-13, Chris Ashton's try midway through the second period put some daylight between the sides and Gloucester were unable to bridge the gap.

Saracens had lost to Bath last time out, but are now back in front of Mike Ford's men after they lost 29-22 on Sunday at Wasps, who are set to move to Coventry's Ricoh Arena in December after confirming the move last weekend.

The home side were weakened by the absence of England international Joe Launchbury - involved in a car accident on his way to Adams Park - but lead 12-0 at half-time courtesy of three penalties from Andy Goode and one from Elliot Daly.

Wasps extended that advantaged to 29-0 early in the second half but faced a late panic as Bath hit back with 22 unanswered points - eventually beaten by the clock in High Wycombe.

Leicester Tigers avoided losing four consecutive Premiership matches for the first time since October 2003 by picking up a 22-16 win over Harlequins on Friday, relieving some of the pressure on director of rugby Richard Cockerill.

However, that joy was tempered by the news that England flanker Tom Croft - one of a host of Leicester players currently sidelined through injury - would be missing for a further six weeks with a knee problem.

Elsewhere, London Welsh's miserable campaign continued as they lost 23-3 at home to second-bottom Newcastle Falcons, while Exeter Chiefs moved third with a 44-24 victory against London Irish.