Arundell scores four as Bath cruise past Newcastle

Henry Arundell (third right) has scored 22 tries for club and country so far this season [PA Media] The Prem Bath (31) 69 Tries: Hill, Arundell 4, Redpath, Bayliss, Carreras 2, Frost, Harris Cons: Russell 7 Newcastle (0) 12 Tries: Hearle 2 Cons: Connon Henry Arundell scored four tries as Bath ended a run of three consecutive defeats with a rampant 69-12 win at home to Newcastle Red Bulls to reaffirm second place in the Prem. Victory seals a top four spot and closes the gap on league leaders Northampton to four points. It also opens up a six-point advantage over Leicester in third, who play Sale on Sunday and travel to the Recreation Ground in the final round in what could be a winner-takes-all game for a home semi-final.

Bath swiftly put five tries on the board before the break to make it 31-0 and added another six in the second half, including two for full-back Santiago Carreras in an afternoon of total domination. Alex Hearle scored two tries to ensure Newcastle were not pointless on the scoreboard, but it was another heavy loss for the Red Bulls who have conceded 259 points in their past four Prem games alone. After a trio of bruising losses on the road in the past three weeks at Northampton and Exeter in the league either side of the Champions Cup semi-final exit to Bordeaux, Bath returned to the Rec in no mood to hang around.

Ted Hill dabbed down in the corner for the opening try as Bath got in behind Newcastle's defence and had numbers on the overlap, and Arundell soon added their second, rolling back onto his feet from a tap-tackle as he sprinted clear and over. Saints humiliate Bristol 94-33 in record-breaking game Newcastle had a couple of moments in Bath's 22 but failed to capitalise in a lacklustre opening 40 minutes and were quickly staring down the barrel of a 15th Prem defeat in 16 games this season. A loose pass when in possession all but gifted the ball to Arundell, who cantered clear for his second try and Bath did not let up.

Newcastle full-back Josh Hodge was chased back to his own tryline and, under pressure, his clearance only went as far as Finn Russell, who unleashed another wave of Bath attack from which Cameron Redpath dived over for their fourth. From the restart, Bath regathered possession and Josh Bayliss skipped free of a tackle for their fifth, with the only blot on their half the loss of hooker Tom Dunn to a 20-minute red card for a head-on-head collision with opposite number George McGuigan. Bath's 69 points was the highest total they have scored in the league this season [PA Media] Newcastle eventually had something to show for an improved spell with the ball after the break as their forward pack got them within a metre of the line and a long pass wide found Hearle in space.