Who has missed out on a play-off place as semi-finals are confirmed?

Premiership Women’s Rugby top four has been confirmed with a regular season round to spare and it sees Exeter Chiefs miss out on the semi-finals.

An incredible performance by Bristol Bears to overcome Harlequins kept the west country side’s hopes alive. But they needed results to go their way as they have a bye week in the final round of fixtures.

Exeter, knowing Bristol had won, knew they needed to beat Saracens and then win in the final round of the regular season next week.

However, Saracens came out 21-12 winners which rules Exeter out of contention for the play-off places.

The semi-final spot for Bristol means they have another game this season and another fixture with star player Ilona Maher. The back has been an impressive addition to the Bristol squad, scoring multiple tries and breaking attendance records.

Maher has added a spark to the team but other stars have shone, like Phoebe Murray.

She said post-match: “It was a tough match, especially in that second half. We seemed to give up the ball a bit easier. But our patience in defence, our willingness to get off the line [was so good]. It was so good to have 6,000 plus people, you can hear it. You can feel it in the stadium.”

After the matches this past weekend concluded the semi-finals were confirmed. Defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury will play west country rivals Bristol Bears, while London clubs Saracens and Harlequins will face off against one another.

Gloucester will be the host for their semi-final, confirming top spot in the table.

However, the host for the other semi-final will be determined on the final day of the season. Whichever club ends up in second place will have home advantage but with just two points separating them it could go either way.

Saracens host Sale Sharks, while Harlequins travel to Gloucester in a tricky encounter.