Bath 24-22 Leicester Tigers - Thomas du Toit hat-trick bags Bath home semi-final

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It was a wet and windy day in the west country which limited the amount of free-flowing rugby at the Rec. It was definitely one for the purist but with a home semi-final at stake the game was still an entertaining affair.

Orlando Bailey opened the scoring after four minutes following some vintage Tigers phase play. The visitors played the conditions well and kept it tight until the space opened for the former Bath centre.

The home side soon hit back through departing South African Thomas du Toit who powered over from three metres. The move stemmed from a deliberate knock on from Leicester’s Hanro Liebenberg, Santi Carreras’s conversion hit the post to maintain Tigers’ lead.

Bath’s player of the year du Toit got his second after 14 minutes to give his side the lead. It was a carbon copy of his first try but again came from a Leicester mistake. Winger Gabriel Hamer-Webb failed to prevent Ben Spencer’s kick from finding touch which put the away side under enormous pressure.

O'Connor’s penalty brought Tigers back within two points. However Bath’s scrum dominance proved too much for Tigers as Nicky Smith got penalised for the third time in the first half leading to Joe Cokanasiga barging over in the 33rd minute. Carreras missed his second conversion of the afternoon to make it 17-10.

The broadcast feed was bizarrely cut for Jack van Poortvliet’s try with the clock in the red at the end of the first half. Replays showed the England nine diving over from a few metres out following a driving maul, given the conditions a remarkably long run in. The sides went into halftime 17-17 after O’Connor’s successful conversion.

The home side started the second half quickly. They hammered away at Leicester’s red zone defence, milking penalty after penalty until the Tigers dam finally burst to give du Toit his hattrick. Carreras knocked over the conversion to give his side a seven point lead.

The second half was scrappy but just as entertaining as the first. Both sides refused to give an inch with much of the game being played in the team’s 22s. Tigers will rue their missed chances after being camped five metres from Bath’s line for ten minutes but walked away with no points.

With just two minutes to go George Pearson finally went over for Tigers after 15 minutes of sustained pressure. Leicester were denied a consolation draw when Bailey missed the conversion meaning the game ended 24-22 to Bath.

Tries: Thomas du Toit (9’, 14’, 49’) Cokanasiga (33’)

Conversions: Carreras (14’, 49’)

Penalties: 0

Yellow cards: Cokanasiga (77’)

Red cards:

1. Beno Obano 2. Kepueli Tuipulotu 3. Thomas du Toit 4. Ted Hill 5. Charlie Ewels 6. Josh Bayliss 7. Sam Underhill 8. Alfie Barbeary 9. Ben Spencer © 10. Santi Carreras 11. Henry Arundell 12. Max Ojomoh 13. Ollie Lawrence 14. Joe Cokanasiga 15. Tom de Glanville

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

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Tries: Bailey (4’) van Poortvliet (39’)

Conversions: O'Connor (4’, 39’)

Penalties: O'Connor (26’,

Yellow cards:

Red cards:

1. Nicky Smith 2. Jamie Blamire 3. Joe Heyes 4. Cameron Henderson 5. Ollie Chessum © 6. Hanro Liebenberg 7. Tommy Reffell 8. Olly Cracknell 9. Jack van Poortvliet 10. James O'Connor 11. Gabriel Hamer-Webb 12. Orlando Bailey 13. Will Wand 14. Adam Radwan 15. George Pearson

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

Today marked the second game in a row that Bath fly-half Finn Russell has missed through injury. The Scotsman is out with a reported calf strain, whilst his absence is just a precaution according to van Graan, Bath fans will be nervous about the prospect of heading into the play-offs without their talisman.

Bath yet again flexed their scrummaging muscles during the wet and windy day at the Rec. Their front row won three penalties in the first half alone at scrum time which gave their attack the perfect platform to build on. Their semi-final opponents Exeter will have to try and neutralise Obano and du Toit if they are to beat the west countryside next weekend.

Despite a strong run in, two defeats in their last two games has meant Tigers slip to fourth in the table and face a trip to Franklin’s Garden to face Saints in the first semi-final on Friday night. Tigers may fancy their chances in the East Midlands derby, after the last time the two teams played Leicester dismantled Saints 41-17 at Welford Road.

The weather played a big factor at the Rec this afternoon. The wind was swirling around the Roman city meaning free flowing rugby was at a premium. Despite this the game was played at a high level with both packs throwing themselves at each with little regard for their own wellbeing. Du Toit getting a hat trick sums up the afternoon pretty well.

With results elsewhere it is confirmed that Bath will host Exeter Chiefs next Saturday in the semi-final. Exeter beat Bath at the beginning of May 35-12, with Bath winning the reverse fixture in January in one of the games of the season. Fans will be hoping for fireworks but Exeter will have to dig deep without star winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who will miss the clash through a facial injury sustained against Leicester last week.

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