Thomas du Toit delivered one of his finest performances in a Bath jersey on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick and earning Player of the Match honours as Bath edged Leicester 24-22 to secure a home Premiership semi-final for the third successive season.
The tighthead, who joins the Sharks at the end of the season alongside Stephan Lewies, Murray Koster, Nemo Roelofse, Donovan Don, Ginanni Lombard, Hendré Stassen and Esethu Mnebelele, played 74 minutes before leaving the field with cramp.
Bath head coach Johann van Graan was fulsome in his praise: "Incredible, incredible player from a tighthead perspective. What he does in the scrum and lifting in the lineout, and how he attacks and defends, mauls, his try-scoring ability — but I think what we'll remember at the back end of the season, when we look back at Thomas, the teammate that he was, the family man, the husband, the father, the friend, and an incredible player."
Finn Russell's availability for the semi-final remains uncertain after the fly-half missed Saturday's match with a calf injury. Van Graan confirmed Russell is progressing but not yet fully fit, drawing a comparison to a groin injury two seasons ago when Bath managed his return carefully. "If this was do or die today, we would have put him in," Van Graan said, adding that a selection call will be made by Friday at noon. Santiago Carreras covered at ten in Russell's absence.