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| - Zach Mercer was hailed as "exceptional" by Bath coach Stuart Hooper as the England number eight marked his return from injury with a try in a narrow 22-21 win over Worcester in the Premiership on Saturday. England boss Eddie Jones has opted against deploying a specialist No 8 in the absence of injured first-choice Billy Vunipola, with Tom Curry moving across from the flank in the opening two rounds of the Six Nations. Both of Mercer's two England caps came in 2018 and he had been sidelined from Bath duty since mid-November with knee ligament trouble. But it took him just 90 seconds to make up for lost time with a try for west country club Bath at Worcester's Sixways ground. It was the start of an impressive display by Mercer as Bath climbed to fourth in the Premiership table. "I thought he was exceptional," Hooper said. "He didn't just get through the 80 minutes, I thought he was consistently dominant with his ball-carry, and he was consistent in his collision-dominance." Yet for all Mercer's efforts, Worcester could still have won the match with the last kick of the game but full-back Chris Pennell's 55-metre effort drifted wide. Leicester won 18-9 at home to Wasps in a dour Midlands derby at Welford Road. Wasps, in their first match since long-serving director of rugby Dai Young stepped back from first-team duty, led 9-3 through three Jimmy Gopperth penalties. But Gregg Bateman's 55th-minute try sparked Leicester's revival. Wasps wing Zach Kibirige had the ball knocked form his grasp in sight of the line and, soon afterwards, Leicester full-back Telusa Veainu pounced on a handling error to run 90 metres for a match-clinching try. "Zach scores that try 99 times out of a hundred and then when we throw a poor pass, they go the length to score," said Wasps interim coach Lee Blackett. "Games in these conditions are won and lost by small margins and they (Leicester) won the little moments today." Australia's Curtis Rona scored two tries as London Irish won 25-19 away to Harlequins. Success at the Stoop meant the Exiles, a fortnight on from winning at Northampton, had enjoyed back-to-back aways wins in the Premiership for the first time since 2004. Meanwhile disgraced English and European champions Saracens, already condemned to relegation for repeated breaches of the Premiership's salary cap, won 36-22 at home to Sale. jdg/dj
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