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Bath Gallagher’s Love secured home advantage in the play-offs by beating Leicester 24-22 at a rain-soaked Recreation Ground.
The reigning champions withstood a strong Leicester challenge to drop to second place behind Northampton and host Exeter next Saturday for a place in the final.
Meanwhile, the Tigers face a testing trip to East Midlands rivals Northampton on Friday as the title race reaches its final lap.
Bath had their South African prop Thomas du Toit in the driving seat to thank as he bagged a hat-trick, all from close range, while wing Joe Cocanasiga also came down, with fly-half Santi Carreras converting two.
Leicester went on the toes for long periods with tries from Orlando Bailey, Jack van Portvliet and George Pearson, while James O’Connor added two conversions and a penalty.
Bath, however, were not to be denied, having been firmly positioned to appear in a third consecutive Love final after losing to Northampton in 2024 and beating Leicester the year before.
Slade leads Exeter past Saracens to book Bath showdown
Henry Slade led the way as Gallagher’s Love secured a play-off against Bath with a 32-12 win from their grudge match against Exeter Saracens.
Slade ran in a crucial 47th-minute try that put the Chiefs in a commanding position and also got three conversions and two penalties, with Max Knorre, Andrea Zambonin and Stephen Varney also getting down.
The classy England center inspired Exeter’s fightback after spending the second quarter of the semi-final shoot-out under intense pressure before coming alive to end Saracens’ five-match winning run.
Even without England star Emmanuel Faye-Waboso due to a facial injury, they were comfortable claiming the bragging rights against their fiercest rivals at Sandy Park.
They finished the regular season in third place and meet Bath at the Recreation Ground on Saturday for a place in the final.
The defeat signaled the end of Mark McCall’s 15-year reign as Saracens’ director of rugby, and the former Ireland center resigned at the end of the season.
The leaders were defeated by Northampton Harlequins
Tom Lawday scored a memorable try in his final moments as a Harlequins player
As a Harlequins player Tom Lawday led his club to a 38-31 win over leaders Northampton.
A much-changed Saints led four times at the Stoop – including scoring their 100th try through scrum-half Jonny Weyman, who captain Alex Dombrant scored for Queen’s.
It’s still a campaign Queens will be looking to quickly put behind them, however, as results elsewhere meant they finished ninth and missed out on qualification for the Invetec Champions Cup.
Lawday’s fairytale farewell moment was a fine way to sign off for the hosts, and Northampton’s loss at the death means a home semi-final against their East Midlands rivals Leicester awaits on Friday.
Win against Bristol to secure a place in the Champions Cup
Sale’s disappointing campaign ended with a comfortable 38-17 bonus-point win over an underpowered Bristol to secure their place in next season’s Champions Cup.
Alex Sanderson’s Sharks have made the play-offs in each of the last three campaigns but finished seventh this season, their lowest since finishing in that position in 2018/19.
They needed a point to secure a place in next term’s Champions Cup and a dominant first-half display set the stage for a six-point win over a Bristol side who finished the season in sixth place.
England fly-half George Ford opened the scoring and Ben Bamber soon doubled Sale’s lead, with winger Aaron Reid and full-back Joe Carpenter also coming on.
Bristol, who named an all-English match-day 23 to ensure the RFU complied with EQP rules, hit back with two tries to winger Noah Hayward and hooker Thomas William before the break.
But Sale scored at the fifth try through the rackety Massey-White and Reid claimed his second before Bristol fly-half Sam Worsley completed the scoring late on.
Redshaw hat-trick helps Gloucester overcome Newcastle
Gloucester booked their place in the Champions Cup for next season with a 54-21 win over bottom-club Newcastle at Kingsholm as the bonus-point win was enough to deny Harlequins the eighth and final spot.
It wasn’t all plain-sailing for Gloucester as they trailed at the end of the first quarter but then they blew their opponents away, starting with a four-try blitz.
Ben Redshaw scored a hat-trick of tries and Arthur Clarke, Caolan Englefield, Max Llewellyn, James Venter and Seb Blake were also on the scoresheet, with Charlie Atkinson converting seven.
George McGuigan, Tom Christie and Simon Benitez Cruz scored the tries for Newcastle. Brett Conan converted two and Ben Healy one.
