Gloucester ran in five tries to crush local rivals Bristol 39-10 to move into second place in the English Premiership on Friday.

The hosts scored tries through Olly Morgan, Peter Buxton (two), Alex Brown and Ryan Lamb in a one-sided romp.

Bottom-placed Bristol meanwhile had to make do with a late touchdown from David Lemi.

In a week when Bristol asked for investors to come forward and plough in excess of STG2 million ($A4.83 million) into their coffers, Gloucester were able to field an embarrassment of riches even on a Test-match weekend.

Cherry and Whites boss Dean Ryan named no less than nine internationals in the starting side with another four - including Olly Barkley and Lesley Vainikolo - on the bench.

Worcester built on last week's impressive win at Sale by defeating a combative Newcastle side 26-11.

Australia's Chris Latham was the outstanding player, combining some lengthy touch-finding with some creative running and also scored one of his team's two tries.

© 2009 AFP