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 for Bath closes the gap on league leaders Northampton to four points and 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 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.

More to follow.

Bath: Carreras; Cokanasiga, Harris, Redpath, Arundell; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit; Hill, Ewels, Bayliss, Pepper, Reid.

Replacements: Frost, Van Wyk, Sela, Molony, Underhill, Carr-Smith, Ojomoh, Barbeary.

Red card: Dunn (38 mins)

Newcastle: Hodge; Obatoyinbo, Beeckmans, Arnold, Hearle; Connon, Benítez Cruz; Hancock, McGuigan (c), McCallum, Clarke, Hawkins, Scott, Christie, Lee-Warner.

Replacements: Fletcher, Clark, Brocklebank, Hodgson, Mafi, Elliott, Grayson, Wade.

Sin bin: Lee-Warner (67 mins)