Leicester Tigers look immovable force in Premiership play-offs as Sale Sharks bid farewell to Faf De Klerk and Lood De Jager

Steve Borthwick’s side end the regular season where they have remained throughout 26 rounds of action, on top of the standings, as tries from Guy Porter and Freddie Steward completed a clean sweep of home league victories at Mattioli Woods Welford Road for the first time in 20 years.

Defeat for Wasps, whose only try came from a late Will Porter breakaway, ended their slim hopes of gaining qualification for the Heineken Champions Cup as London Irish finished above them in eighth position.

Borthwick said: “The most important thing is it’s been a really tough game. What better preparation can you have?

“That was a proper game. That was two teams, trying to win.”

Tommy Freeman showcased his burgeoning talent by scoring a hat-trick in Northampton’s 65-26 thumping of Newcastle, which qualified the hosts for the Gallagher Premiership play-offs.

The Saints scored 10 tries in total during an extremely open contest at Franklin’s Gardens as they reached the semi-finals for the first time in three years and they have a clash at old rivals Leicester to look forward to next week.

This was not how Newcastle director of rugby Dean Richards would have wanted to end a decade in charge, however, with the visitors also having Sean Robinson sent off.

Sale marked the departures of South Africa duo Faf De Klerk and Lood De Jager in perfect fashion as they recorded a 42-19 Gallagher Premiership victory over Bristol at the AJ Bell Stadium.

De Klerk has become a Sale favourite, turning out consistently-excellent performances over the past five years, while De Jager has been a man mountain whenever he has been on the pitch.

Injuries have hampered the Springbok lock’s Sharks career but he – and De Klerk – were at their best as they hammered a forlorn Bristol team.

A record crowd of 14,876 at Sandy Park saw Exeter finish their season in style by beating Harlequins 47-38 in a 13-try thriller. Despite being guaranteed a finishing spot of third, Quins still fielded a full-strength line-up ahead of next week’s semi-final at Saracens, but on this occasion they just lost out to determined Chiefs.

Bath were condemned to a bottom-of-the-table finish as they suffered a 43-27 defeat to Worcester at Sixways.

Gloucester missed out on the Gallagher Premiership play-offs but they still ended their season with a thumping 54-7 victory over Saracens – who rested a host of England players – at Kingsholm.