Each week we will be asking rugby journalists as well as Lions legends to review all the action from the leagues and competitions to see which players are putting their names in contention for the Lions Tour of Australia this summer. This week’s Lions Watch is written by Paul Eddison.

It was semi-final time across the United Rugby Championship and Premiership Rugby as the domestic season approaches its zenith.

For Andy Farrell, there will have been a few smiles at how his charges fared across a trio of high-intensity encounters in Ireland and England.

In Dublin, Leinster hit the ground running and never let up as they booked their place in the United Rugby Championship final with a 37-19 win over Glasgow Warriors.

Meanwhile, in England, Bath got the better of Bristol Bears in a West Country derby on Friday night before Leicester Tigers edged out Sale Sharks on Saturday.

So ahead of a pair of showpiece finals, here is who caught the eye:

Leinster Lions in full flow

A record-breaking contingent of Leinster players will head to Australia this summer, and while they did not all feature against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday, those Lions who did were out to prove a point.

Even in the era of high-scoring hookers, Dan Sheehan is in a league of his own, and showed that once more with two tries in the first half at the Aviva Stadium.

While the second of those was a standard maul try, the first came from a trademark late Sheehan run, bursting through the defensive line from a bullet pass by Jamison Gibson-Park.

The Ireland scrum-half repeated the trick in the second half with another fizzing miss-pass to put Jamie Osborne over for a try as Leinster pulled clear of their opponents.

Osborne had already been the beneficiary of another Lion, with a delightful offload from James Lowe setting up his first try.

Glasgow never really threatened their hosts, but did at least have the final say with a brilliant individual try from Sione Tuipulotu, who has done a good job proving his fitness since his return to action.

Leinster will look to bring home the title back in Dublin next week at Croke Park, before the Lions kick off their summer a week later in the Irish capital, with their 1888 Cup meeting with Argentina at the Aviva Stadium.

Finn has Bath purring

Top of the table Bath welcomed Bristol to the Rec with the tag of favourites and found themselves under the pump for the first 40 minutes of their play-off clash.

However, with Finn Russell pulling the strings, they were able to turn the tide in impressive fashion on their way to a 34-20 victory.

It was Russell’s quick thinking when he spotted a vacant blindside that set up a try for Ted Hill early in the second period, and from there, he helped Bath pull away.

They now head to Twickenham looking to pick up their third piece of silverware this season, having already won the Premiership Rugby Cup and the Challenge Cup.

Elsewhere on Friday night, a pair of Lions went up against one another as Bath tighthead Will Stuart packed down opposite Bears loosehead Ellis Genge.

Chessum looks to head to Oz with a trophy

With Stuart and Russell coming out on top, the only team who can deny them that third trophy are Leicester Tigers, who came through their clash with Sale Sharks 21-16.

An impressive first-half display from the Tigers saw them open up a healthy lead, with second row Ollie Chessum at the heart of everything they did well.

His impressive burst in the second half set up a drop-goal attempt that could have sealed victory, while Tigers’ set-piece was key to building up a lead.

The 24-year-old has lost just once all season in matches he has started in the second row for club or country. The only problem is that the lone defeat came the last time he faced Bath in a league meeting between the teams in May.

For Sale Sharks, there was disappointment for Lions pair Tom Curry and Luke Cowan-Dickie, the latter playing the full 80 minutes.