Saracens hammer Newcastle to maintain Premiership play-off bid

Saracens stayed in the hunt for a place in the English Premiership play-offs by demolishing bottom-of-the-table Newcastle 75-28 on Saturday.

The London club scored 11 tries in front of their own fans to go level on points with fourth-placed Sale, with two games of the regular season remaining.

The top four at the end of the campaign qualify for the semifinals, with the winners progressing to a title-deciding Twickenham final on June 14.

Newcastle stunned Saracens 17-12 in the reverse fixture in November but with the hosts at full strength, including a trio of players selected for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, there was little danger of a repeat.

But that loss to Newcastle could yet prove costly as Saracens may still have to beat both Northampton and Bath in their remaining league fixtures.

Argentina's Juan Martin Gonzalez scored a hat-trick of tries for Saracens, with Ben Earl adding two and Theo Dan, Ivan van Zyl, Lions captain Maro Itoje, Charlie Bracken, Tom Willis and Jamie George also crossing Newcastle's line.

Fergus Burke kicked seven conversions and Louie Johnson three.

Bristol remained in play-off contention after beating west country rivals Bath 36-14 at the Principality Stadium.

The Premiership's first game in Wales attracted an impressive crowd of 51 095, with Bristol coming out on top under the Cardiff venue's closed roof.

Bristol's bonus-point win took them third ahead of next week's match away to Sale.

Bath boss Johann Van Graan made 13 changes following a European Challenge Cup semifinal victory over Edinburgh.