SA centre helps Bristol book a date with Van Graan's Bath

SATURDAY WRAP: Bristol booked their place in the English Premiership play-offs with a 52-26 rout of Harlequins on the last day of the regular season on Saturday.

Pat Lam’s side knew that victory at Ashton Gate would secure a top-four finish for the first time since 2022.

They rose to the challenge with a dynamic display inspired by tries in the first five minutes from George Kloska and Joe Batley.

Kalaveti Ravouvou and Viliame Mata also touched down for Bristol in the first half, while AJ MacGinty added three conversions.

Two tries from Cadan Murley and one each for Alex Dombrandt and George Hammond, plus three Jamie Benson conversions, kept the visitors in contention.

But Gabriel Ibitoye bagged two second-half tries before flank Santiago Grondona and centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg crossed over, with MacGinty making three more conversions.

In the play-off semifinals, Bristol will face west country rivals Bath at the Recreation Ground on June 6.

Johann van Graan’s Bath finished top of the Premiership, but fourth-placed Bristol have already beaten them twice in the league this season.

Premiership semifinals:

Leicester secured a home play-off semifinal with a 42-20 victory over bottom-of-the-table Newcastle at Welford Road.

The second-placed Tigers, chasing a 12th league title, ran in six tries to book a date with third-placed Sale next Saturday.

Leicester trio Ben Youngs, Dan Cole and Mike Brown, who have over 300 England caps between them, now have one more match on home turf before retiring at the end of the season.

South African flank Hanro Liebenberg was one of Leicester’s try-scorers, while Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard contributed eight points with the boot.

Sale made it to the play-offs after surviving a tense 30-26 win against second-bottom Exeter at Sandy Park.

Sale led 20-5 at half-time but Exeter got within four points with just over two minutes left before the visitors finally sealed the victory.

With top spot already wrapped up, runaway leaders Bath fielded a weakened team at Saracens and went down 26-36.

For only the third time since 2009, six-time English champions Saracens will be missing from the knockout phase of the competition.

Victories for Sale and Bristol meant a top-four finish was out of Saracens’ reach as they finished a disappointing campaign in sixth place.

Having defeated Lyon in the European Challenge Cup final last weekend, Bath can now focus on finishing a memorable season with a double triumph.

Jack Cotgreave scored a hat-trick of tries as Gloucester clinched a bonus-point 41-26 victory against Northampton at Kingsholm.

Christian Wade added a brace with Seb Atkinson and Tomos Williams was also on the try-scoring sheet for Gloucester, with Santiago Carreras making three conversions.

However, the five points achieved were not enough for fifth-placed Gloucester to snatch a play-off spot.

See below for Saturday’s scores and scorers!

Bristol Bears 52-26 Harlequins

The scorers:

For Bristol Bears:
Tries: Kloska, Batley, Ravouvou, Mata, Ibitoye 2, Grondona, Janse van Rensburg
Cons: MacGinty 6

For Harlequins:
Tries: Murley 2, Dombrandt, Hammond
Cons: Benson 3

Teams:

Bristol Bears: 15 Noah Heward, 14 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13 Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Joe Batley, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 George Kloska, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Yann Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Joe Owen, 20 Steven Luatua, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Harry Byrne, 23 Jack Bates.

Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Luke Northmore, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Jamie Benson, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt (captain), 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 George Hammond, 4 Jonny Green, 3 Titi Lamositele, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Ollie Streeter, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Jake Murray, 22 Sean Kerr, 23 Leigh Halfpenny.

Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Greg MacDonald
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Exeter Chiefs 26-30 Sale Sharks

The scorers:

For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Brown-Bampoe, Hodge, Haydon-Wood, Capstick
Cons: Hodge 3

For Sale Sharks:
Tries: Ma’asi-White, Rodd, Cowan-Dickie
Cons: Ford 3
Pens: Ford 3

Teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Tamati Tua, 11 Tommy Wyatt, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stu Townsend, 8 Ethan Roots, 7 Richard Capstick, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Franco Molina, 4 Rusi Tuima, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain) 1 Kwenzo Blose.
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Jimmy Roots, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Ross Vintcent.

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Ben Curry (captain), 6 JL du Preez, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ernst van Rhyn, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Bevan Rodd.
Replacements: 16 Tadgh McElroy, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ben Bamber, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Luke James, 23 Alex Wills.

Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Neil Chivers
TMO: Ian Tempest

Gloucester 41-26 Northampton Saints

The scorers:

For Gloucester:
Tries: Cotgreave 3, Wade 2, Williams, Atkinson
Cons: Carreras 3

For Northampton Saints:
Tries: Pearson, Litchfield, Lumley, Mapu
Cons: Hutchinson 3

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Jack Cotgreave, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (captain), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ciaran Knight.
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Kirill Gotovtsev, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Freddie Thomas, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Will Butler, 23 George Barton.

Northampton Saints: 15 Jake Garside, 14 Toby Cousins, 13 Henry Lumley, 12 Tom Litchfield, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Rory Hutchinson, 9 Jonny Weimann, 8 Fyn Brown, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Archie Benson, 5 Chunya Munga, 4 Ed Prowse (c), 3 Luke Green, 2 Henry Walker, 1 Tarek Haffar.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Langdon, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Tom Lockett, 21 Iakopo Mapu, 22 James Pater, 23 Ewan Baker.

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Andrew Jackson

Leicester Tigers 42-20 Newcastle Falcons

The scorers:

For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Liebenberg, Bassett, Kata, Heyes, Rogerson, Hassell-Collins
Cons: Pollard 4, Volavola 2

For Newcastle Falcons:
Tries: Leatherbarrow, Arnold
Cons: Connon 2
Pens: Connon 2

Teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Nicky Smith.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Matt Rogerson, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Mike Brown.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Ben Redshaw, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Max Pepper, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Freddie Lockwood, 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Cameron Neild, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 John Hawkins, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jamie Blamire (captain), 1 Murray McCallum.
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Callum Hancock, 19 Oscar Usher, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Oli Spencer, 23 Louis Brown.

Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Hamish Grant, Wayne Falla
TMO: Hamish Smales

Saracens 36-26 Bath

The scorers:

For Saracens:
Tries: Segun, George 2, Daly, Dan, Burke
Cons: Burke 3

For Bath:
Tries: Green, Offiah, Tuipolutu, Hennessey
Cons: Bailey 3

Teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Carre.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Harvey Beaton, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Charlie Bracken, 23 Lucio Cinti.

Bath: 15 Jack Woods, 14 Austin Emens, 13 Louie Hennessey, 12 Will Parry, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Arthur Green, 7 Tom Cowan, 6 Ethan Staddon, 5 Ewan Richards (c), 4 Will Jeanes, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Jasper Spandler, 1 Scott Kirk.
Replacements: 16 Kepu Tuipulotu, 17 Arthur Cordwell, 18 Kieran Verden, 19 Mackenzie Graham, 20 George Timmins, 21 Neil le Roux, 22 Tyler Offiah, 23 John Stewart.

Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: George Selwood, John Meredith
TMO: Matthew Carley