Springbok's hat-trick steers Bath to win
WRAP: Sharks-bound Thomas du Toit was in incredible form, leading Bath to a 24-22 win over Leicester Tigers at a rainswept Recreation Ground.
The victory saw Bath secure home advantage in the Gallagher PREM play-offs.
The reigning PREM champions withstood a powerful Leicester challenge to nail down second place behind Northampton and will now host Exeter.
Tigers, meanwhile, face a testing trip to East Midlands rivals Northampton when the title race reaches its penultimate lap.
Du Toit put Bath in the driving seat as he scored three of tries, all from close range.
Wing Joe Cokanasiga also touched down, with flyhalf Santi Carreras kicking two conversions, but Leicester went toe to toe for long periods through tries by Orlando Bailey, Jack van Poortvliet and George Pearson, while James O’Connor added two conversions and a penalty.
Bath, though, were not to be denied, staying firmly on course for a third successive Prem final appearance after losing to Northampton in 2024 and beating Leicester a year ago.
Leicester, eager to bounce back from a hefty defeat against Exeter last time out, went ahead after just four minutes when O’Connor capitalised on strong work by the pack to send Bailey over for a try against his former club.
Bath, though, were not to be denied, staying firmly on course for a third successive Prem final appearance after losing to Northampton in 2024 and beating Leicester a year ago.
Leicester, eager to bounce back from a hefty defeat against Exeter last time out, went ahead after just four minutes when O’Connor capitalised on strong work by the pack to send Bailey over for a try against his former club.
However, Leicester underlined their resilience by drawing level before the break, driving Bath backwards as their driving lineout clicked into gear, and Van Poortvliet touched down. O’Connor’s second successful conversion then tied it up at 17-17.
Tigers boss Geoff Parling switched Bailey from centre to flyhalf for the second period, with O’Connor going off, and England international forward George Martin took over from lock Cameron Henderson.
The visitors, though, were immediately in defensive mode as Bath went through phase after phase deep inside Tigers’ 22 as they chased a bonus-point score.
And typically it was Du Toit who finally breached Leicester’s cover, completing his treble, with Carreras converting to restore a seven-point lead.
Leicester had their moments during the final quarter, yet the odd wrong option and spilled pass thwarted their efforts to post a win that would have seen them edge Bath for a home play-off, and Tigers took it to the wire courtesy of Pearson’s 78th-minute try after Cokanasiga was yellow-carded.
But they will not be daunted by an away appointment with Saints, a team they defeated 41-17 on May 9, albeit that game taking place at Leicester.
Henry Slade led the way as Exeter emerged emphatic 32-12 winners from their grudge match against Saracens to secure a Gallagher Prem play-off against Bath.
Slade ran in the crucial 47th-minute try that placed the Chiefs in a commanding position and also landed three conversions and two penalties, with Max Norey and Andrea Zambonin and Stephen Varney touching down too.
The classy England centre inspired Exeter’s fightback after they had spent the second quarter of the shootout for a semifinal place under heavy pressure before coming alive to end to Saracens’ five-match winning run.
Saturday’s defeat brought down the curtain on Mark McCall’s 15 years as director of rugby at Saracens after the former Ireland centre announced in January he would be leaving at the end of this campaign.
Saracens won three Champions Cups and six Prem titles under McCall but they were denied the chance to round off his reign with yet another trophy as Exeter won convincingly to finish in third place.
Exeter will take on reigning champions Bath on June 13.
Northampton will be at home to Leicester in a Midlands derby in the first semifinal on June 12, despite the table-topping Saints losing 38-31 at Harlequins.
The Prem Final is at Twickenham on June 20.
The scores and scorers below
Sale 38-17 Bristol
The scorers:
For Sale:
Tries: Ford, Bamber, Reed 2, Carpenter, Ma’asi-White
Cons: Ford 4
For Bristol:
Tries: Heward, Gwilliam, Worsley
Con: Worsley
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Tom Roebuck, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Arron Reed, 10 George Ford, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Seb Kelly, 6 Sam Dugdale, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 James Harper, 2 Nathan Jibulu, 1 Asher Opoku-Fordjour
Replacements: 16 Alfie Longstaff, 17 Ralph McEachran, 18 Patreece Bell, 19 Hyron Andrews, 20 Reuben Logan, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Luke James, 23 Alex Wills
Bristol Bears: 15 Rich Lane, 14 Noah Heward, 13 Jack Bates, 12 Joe Jenkins, 11 Aidan Boshoff, 10 Sam Worsley, 9 Harry Randall (captain), 8 Joe Batley, 7 Harry Thacker, 6 Joe Owen, 5 George Taylor, 4 James Dun, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Tomas Gwilliam, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Kieran Hill, 18 Sam Grahamslaw, 19 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Jimmy Halliwell, 20 Kenzie Jenkins, 21 Sam Wolstenholme, 22 Max Pepper, 23 Ollie Harris
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant Referees: Dan Jones, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Peter Allan
Bath 24-22 Leicester
The scorers:
For Bath:
Tries: Du Toit 3, Cokanasiga
Cons: Carreras 2
For Leicester:
Tries: Bailey, Van Poortvliet, Pearson
Cons: O’Connor 2
Pen: O’Connor
Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Henry Arundell, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Alfie Barbeary, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Ted Hill, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Vilikesa Sela, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ewan Richards, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Miles Reid
Leicester Tigers: 15 George Pearson, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Will Wand, 12 Orlando Bailey, 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 James O’Connor, 9 Jack Van Poortvliet, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenburg, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Archie van der Flier, 18 Will Hurd, 19 George Martin, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Charlie Bemand, 22 Solomone Kata, 23 Izaia Perese
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Adam Leal
Harlequins 38-31 Northampton
The scorers:
For Harlequins:
Tries: Dombrandt 2, Benson, Cleaves, Anderson, Lawday
Cons: Smith 4
For Northampton
Tries: Weimann 2, Van der Mescht, Kemeny, Thame
Cons: Belleau 3
Harlequins: 15 Jamie Benson, 14 Cameron Anderson, 13 Cadan Murley, 12 Bryn Bradley, 11 Cassius Cleaves, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Will Porter, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Will Evans, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Stephan Lewies, 4 Jonny Green, 3 Ollie Streeter, 2 Sam Riley, 1 Will Hobson
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Staples, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Kieran Treadwell, 20 Guido Petti Pagadizábal, 21 Tom Lawday, 22 Stu Townsend, 23 Josh Bellamy
Northampton Saints: 15 James Pater, 14 James Martin, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 James Ramm, 10 Anthony Belleau, 9 Jonny Weimann, 8 Sam Graham, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Josh Kemeny, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht, 4 Tom Lockett, 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tom West, 18 Sonny Tonga’uiha, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Callum Chick, 21 Tom James, 22 Toby Thame, 23 George Hendy
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum, Hamish Grant
TMO: Hamish Smales
Exeter 32-12 Saracens
The scorers:
For Exeter:
Tries: Norey, Slade, Zambonin, Varney
Cons: Slade 3
Pens: Slade 2
For Saracens:
Tries: Elliott, Isiekwe
Con: Farrell
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Olly Woodburn, 14 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Campbell Ridl, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ethan Roots, 7 Christ Tshiunza, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 2 Max Norey, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Ethan Burger, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Kane James, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Zack Wimbush, 23 Ben Hammersley
Saracens: 15 Max Malins, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Olly Hartley, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Charlie Bracken, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Marcus Street, 2 Jamie George, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Ivan Van Zyl, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Noah Caluori
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Andrew Jackson
Gloucester 54-21 Newcastle
The scorers:
For Gloucester:
Tries: Redshaw 3, Clark, Englefield, Llewellyn, Blake, Venter
Cons: C Atkinson (7)
For Newcastle:
Tries: McGuigan, Christie, Cruz
Cons: Connon 2, Healy
Gloucester: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson (c), 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Will Trenholm, 7 James Venter, 6 Freddie Thomas, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Arthur Clark, 3 Afo Fasogbon, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Deian Gwynne, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Mikey Austin, 22 Will Knight, 23 Josiah Edwards-Giraud
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Ethan Grayson, 14 Harrison Obatoyinbo, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Freddie Lockwood, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 5 Adam Scott, 4 Jamie Hodgson, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 George McGuigan (c), 1 Connor Hancock
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Jamie Clark, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Reuben Parsons, 21 James Elliott, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Christian Wade
Referee: Joe James
Assistant Referees: Jamie Parr, Wayne Falla
TMO: David Rose
