England heroes Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell made try-scoring returns to domestic action as Saracens emphatically reclaimed top spot in the Aviva Premiership against former leaders Exeter.
Exeter scored 17 unanswered second-half points as they rallied against Northampton to win a fierce contest 20-12 at Sandy Park and go top of the Aviva Premiership table.
Wales prop Tomas Francis has received an eight-week ban for making contact with the "eye or eye area" of England forward Dan Cole during last Saturday's RBS 6 Nations game at Twickenham.
After winning only one of their previous 11 league encounters against Bath, Exeter boss Rob Baxter was delighted to see the Chiefs overcome their bogey team 26-17 at Sandy Park.
The six best teams in the Aviva Premiership academy league met at Allianz Park on Monday for Finals Day, to decide the teams’ final positions for the 2015/16 season.
Sale held off a comeback in the second half by Exeter to claim a 23-17 win at the AJ Bell Stadium and boost their own hopes of reaching the top four of the Aviva Premiership.
Saracens extended their lead to five points at the top of the Aviva Premiership on Sunday with a hard-fought 14-11 win over second-placed Exeter at Sandy Park.
For the second consecutive week, Thomas Waldrom and James Short produced outstanding performances as the Exeter Chiefs moved to just two points behind Aviva Premiership leaders Saracens with a 30-15 victory over Worcester Warriors.
Exeter pushed Bordeaux-Begles close in France but a 34-27 defeat has left the Chiefs with a mountain to climb to progress in the European Champions Cup.
Super League Grand-Final winner Josh Jones is to cut short his stay in rugby union for family reasons and return to the 13-man code having been released by Exeter.
Exeter Chiefs boosted their Aviva Premiership title challenge by taking their unbeaten home run past the one-year mark with a 19-10 victory over Gloucester.
Mike Haywood scored the only try of the game as Northampton revived their top-four push by beating Exeter 8-3 in front of a record crowd of 15,430 at Franklin's Gardens.