Northampton Saints beat Bath 71-48 at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday, scoring 11 tries in an 18-try PREM Rugby contest worth 119 points. Ollie Sleightholme scored a hat-trick and Tommy Freeman crossed twice as Saints recovered from last week’s defeat by Bristol, while the result ended Bath’s unbeaten start to the season.
The total made it the second highest-scoring match in English top-flight rugby union history, according to the BBC and Sky Sports. It fell eight points short of the competition record: Northampton’s 94-33 win over Bristol in May, which produced 127 points. That comparison underlines the unusual scale of a game in which Bath scored seven tries away from home yet lost by 23 points.
Saints turn a three-point half-time deficit into a 23-point win
Bath led 29-26 at the interval after an opening half in which neither side established control for long. Fin Smith gave Northampton an early lead, but Bath responded through Tom Carr-Smith after Finn Russell helped create the opening. Charlie Griffin then scored on his Prem debut, while Archie Griffin and Arthur Green also crossed as the visitors repeatedly punished Northampton mistakes.
Saints stayed in touch through Sleightholme, Freeman and captain Fraser Dingwall. Russell’s penalty with the final kick of the half left Bath three ahead, and the visitors extended that advantage shortly after the restart when Green claimed his second try.
Northampton’s response proved decisive. James Pater pounced after Santiago Carreras spilled the ball and ran in from distance, before Carreras made amends with a try for Bath. Josh Kemeny, Alex Mitchell and Sleightholme then scored as Saints began to pull clear, with Sleightholme completing his hat-trick after Bath’s Ollie Lawrence had been sin-binned.
Josh Bayliss scored Bath’s final try to reduce the gap to 57-48, but Northampton finished with further scores from Alex Coles and Freeman. Smith converted eight tries, a contribution that helped turn Northampton’s 11-try haul into a score that Bath could not match despite their own attacking return.
Sleightholme and Freeman finish Saints’ attacking surge
Sleightholme’s three tries made him the standout finisher in a Northampton back line that repeatedly found space from turnover ball and quick handling. Freeman added two tries, while Smith, Dingwall, Pater, Kemeny, Mitchell and Coles completed the home side’s scoring.
For Bath, Green scored twice, while Carr-Smith, Charlie Griffin, Archie Griffin, Carreras and Bayliss each crossed. The visitors had made 12 changes, according to the BBC, but their younger-looking starting side still took a 29-26 lead into half-time and scored 48 points on the road.
That made the result more than a straightforward attacking display by Saints. Bath were still ahead early in the second half and moved 10 points clear when Carreras scored, but Northampton’s ability to convert broken play and regain possession shifted the match during the middle of the half.
Attack brought records, but defence remains a concern
Northampton head coach Sam Vesty said his side had been highly clinical in attack and praised their work at the breakdown. However, he also indicated that Saints were unhappy with conceding 48 points and had areas to improve, particularly in how they managed possession when leaving their own end.
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan described the outcome as disappointing given his side had scored 48 points away from home. He identified the period between the 50th and 60th minutes as the stage at which Bath lost control, while also pointing to the quality of rugby his team had produced.
The 119-point total was eight short of the 127-point English top-flight record. Vesty said Saints were unhappy with conceding 48 points, while van Graan said Bath lost control between the 50th and 60th minutes despite scoring 48 away from home.
For Saints, the immediate competitive value was a sharp response after losing to Bristol. For Bath, the defeat halted an unbeaten start but their seven tries showed they remained capable of testing the champions. A clear area for Northampton to address, based on Vesty’s comments, is whether they can retain this attacking fluency while conceding fewer opportunities.