Aviva Premiership: Winners and Losers from Semi-Finals

Bath will play Saracens in the Aviva Premiership final next weekend after two contrasting semi-finals.

Mike Ford's men stuck over 40 points on Leicester Tigers for the second time this season at the Rec in a 47-10 win, while Saracens stormed the home fortress of last year's champions Northampton to beat the Saints 29-24 and book a return to Twickenham.

The manner of these results points to a clash of styles when these two go head-to-head in the final, with Bath's razor sharp attack against the obdurate, hard-nosed qualities of this Saracens team that has been to the summit before.

For now, let's reflect on the winners and losers from the semi-final weekend.

Matt Banahan could not be left off this list. The Jersey giant made history with the first ever hat-trick in a Premiership semi-final.

The wing scored his side's first two tries and scored his side's sixth try in the second half. His first was on the board inside two minutes and set the tone for Bath's afternoon.

Banahan, seemingly out of the picture as far as England are concerned, will get the chance in the final to show what he can do against two men who have made the cut into Stuart Lancaster's 50-man World Cup training squad, Chris Ashton and David Strettle.

They may have made the top four with a late run into form that saw them conquer Wasps away and Northampton on the final day, but the Tigers have looked way short of their best for most of this season.

In his heart of hearts, Richard Cockerill would admit that, and he knows there is a job to be done to be able to return to the days of winning Premierships and European trophies as though it were a birth right for the players who wore the shirt.

The Guardian's Michael Aylwin summed the contest up, describing it as, "A side who have looked a million dollars this season against one who have not, despite a run of seven wins out of eight that got them into this semi-final."

And it played out that way.

The sooner Manu Tuilagi's presence can be reintegrated into the side the better. Leicester miss his X-factor.

Joseph's dazzling feet were at work for Matt Banahan's first try, and he tormented the Leicester defence time and time again as Bath's back line purred with menace.

The Guardian's Michael Aylwin wrote: "Jonathan Joseph reassured us that, in this form, Manu Tuilagi’s off-field indiscretions should be of no consequence come the autumn."

The most pleasing aspect of Joseph's ascendancy is the consistency with which he has delivered performances. He has done it home and away for Bath in Europe and the Premiership and also for England.

He looks comfortable in his skin as the man the fans look to to make something happen, and that can only bode well for the autumn.

When Saracens win ugly, it usually has something to do with the performance of Jacques Burger. And this occasion was no different.

The Guardian's Paul Rees wrote: "The visitors burned with intent from the opening moments, led by the warrior Jacques Burger, who showed the same disregard for his own body that he had for medical opinion two years ago that said it was time for him to consider another career."

Translated into statistics, per ESPN.co.uk, that equalled 12 tackles from the Namibian, to go with the 14 by his back-row colleague Billy Vunipola and the 16 by lock George Kruis. Oh, and a combined 31 from prop Mako Vunipola and hooker Jamie George.

Burger, it would seem, is a man willfully followed into the trenches.

With Bath running riot in their semi-final, Burger's special brand of doggedness may well be required in the final if Sarries are to keep the West Country side's backs on a tight leash.

Although the Guardian's Paul Rees reckons Saints "would have struggled to contain Saracens even at full strength," you have to feel for Saints boss Jim Mallinder.

Already without win George North and Ben Foden, he saw his team lose Foden's stand-in at No. 15 Ahsee Tuala after three minutes and then his replacement James Wilson at half-time.

Injury-prone Lions prop Alex Corbisiero didn't make it to the break to make matters worse.

Yet, despite this horror show on the injury front, the scores were level at the interval.

No one quite knows how to throttle a team running low on bodies quite like Saracens, however, and they had Owen Farrell in fine form with the boot to do just that.

Having run away with the league, Northampton had been bashed up and mugged by the most streetwise team in the division, who only just scraped into the game on the final day.