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Bath 47-10 Leicester Tigers, Aviva Premiership play-offs
Brilliant Bath storm to Premiership final
ESPN Staff
May 23, 2015
Kyle Eastmond of Bath celebrates after scoring his team's third try of the game during the Aviva Premiership Semi Final match between Bath Rugby and Leicester Tigers at Recreation Ground on May 23, 2015 in Bath, England. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
Kyle Eastmond celebrates his try with the Rec faithful
© Getty Images
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A Matt Banahan hat-trick of tries book-ended a thrilling performance from Bath as they overwhelmed Leicester Tigers at the Rec to take their place in the Aviva Premiership final.

They will face Saracens, who earlier in the day stunned Northampton Saints at home to book their spot at Twickenham next Saturday.

Banahan scored the first two of Bath's tries in the first half, with Kyle Eastmond adding a third before the break.

Peter Stringer and George Ford added further tries in the second half, with Banahan then completing his hat-trick before Anthony Watson added a seventh try as time expired.

Leicester must now reflect on a trophy-less campaign, but Bath are 80 minutes away from potentially landing their first Premiership title.

Skipper Stuart Hooper returned for Bath after missing the last two games because of injury, while Ross Batty was preferred to Rob Webber at hooker and reformed his midfield partnership with Eastmond.

Leicester replaced injured prop Logovi'i Mulipola with Marcos Ayerza as they looked to book a 10th Premiership final appearance in the last 13 years.

Conditions were perfect for Bath's gilt-edged back division to showcase the type of rugby that had produced 72 Premiership tries before kick-off this season, and it took just 90 seconds before the Leicester defence was shredded.

Ford made initial headway, then Joseph tormented the Tigers in midfield before delivering a scoring pass to Banahan, who galloped over for a try of simplistic brilliance.

Ford converted from the touchline to make it 7-0, but Leicester responded impressively by taking play deep into Bath's 22, yet Burns missed a straightforward penalty chance.

Burns then had a second opportunity to open Leicester's account, but he hit the post from longer range before eventually finding the target after 24 minutes.

The Tigers showed far more resilience than they had on their last Recreation Ground visit earlier this season, yet they were undone spectacularly by two more Bath tries during a devastating five-minute burst.

Banahan claimed his second touchdown after Ford and Joseph combined again to send him clear, then Leicester were punished following some hapless defensive work by wing Vereniki Goneva, who could not lay a finger on his opposite number Rokoduguni, whose kick ahead was gathered by try-scorer Eastmond.

Two more Ford conversions made it 21-3, only for Leicester to enjoy a temporary two-man advantage after Watson and Houston received yellow cards in quick succession after referee JP Doyle ruled they had committed technical offences.

Leicester should have scored a minute before the break, but full-back Niall Morris spilled possession under pressure from a Rokoduguni tackle as he dived over the line, yet there was enough time for Youngs to claim a close-range score that Burns converted as Bath's advantage was cut to 11 points.

Burns missed another penalty just after half-time and Leicester then lost Morris, who was carried off after appearing to suffer an ankle injury. He was replaced by Tommy Bell.

Burns' kicking woes continued when a long-range attempt again had the distance, but lamentable accuracy, and with Bath restored to 15 players they looked to reassert their earlier dominance and seal a place at Twickenham.

And they finished in style, with Stringer, Ford, Banahan and Watson administering the knockout blows to Leicester, and Bath's celebrations ahead of a day out in south-west London next weekend could begin.

Matt Banahan scarpers over the line for his and Bath's second try of the game © Getty Images
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