Northampton Saints recorded an emphatic 43-14 victory over bottom-placed London Welsh to regain top spot in the Aviva Premiership table.

Calum Clark opened the scoring for the visitors inside the opening six minutes, driving the ball over to set his side on their way to what was a resounding victory at the Kassam Stadium.

Despite their positive start, the Saints were made to wait another 30 minutes before adding to the score as Stephen Myler put the ball over in the corner, with the video official confirming the fly half's first try of the season.

Less than two minutes later, Northampton, who have now won their last seven against today's opponents, crossed over for the third time in the half courtesy of Samu Manoa.

Two more quickfire tries soon followed after the restart, as Jamie Elliott made the most of Ryan Wilson's offload to score, while Ben Foden strolled over on the right to put the Jimmies well in command.

London Welsh, in desperate need for a win having lost all 12 of their previous games, did manage to open their account on 51 minutes when Taione Vea crashed over from close range, only for Saints to hit back instantly as Wilson squeezed over.

Despite Sam Dickinson being shown a yellow, Ben Nutley further extended the visiting side's lead 10 minutes from time to put them well on course for top spot once more.

There was still enough time remaining for Nic Reynolds to add a deserved try for the Exiles, but the defeat was long confirmed to leave them with just a single point to their name at the foot of the table.