Ollie Sleightholme bagged himself a hat‑trick during a try‑frenzied encounter at a sold‑out DPD Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens as Northampton Saints secured a barely believable 71-48 victory.
This head‑to‑head rarely disappoints as a spectacle, and the first half delivered as eight tries were shared, with Fin Smith, Ollie Sleightholme, Tommy Freeman and Fraser Dingwall striking for the hosts – Bath matching them blow for blow with four tries and three conversions before edging ahead through Finn Russell’s penalty on the stroke of half‑time.
Ten more tries followed in a scintillating second period, as Sleightholme added two more, Freeman claimed a second, and James Pater, Alex Mitchell, Josh Kemeny and Callum Chick all grabbed singles, with Bath adding three more to take the match tally to 18 – as the game finished within eight points of the Gallagher PREM record for points scored in a game – the 127 Saints and Bristol conjured upat DPD Stadium earlier this year.
FIRST HALF:
A scrappy opening five minutes with errors from both sides wasn’t to last, as the winners of the last three PREM titles collectively showed their class to share four tries in the ten minutes that followed.
It started with an arching run to the line from Smith after Rory Hutchinson teased the defence and released the ball in timely fashion for his fly‑half to finish the move.
Back came Bath with two quickfire tries, as Arthur Green’s burst through centrefield was completed by the supporting Tom Carr‑Smith, then the scorer turned creator as a pass close to the left corner flag was touched down by Charlie Griffin.
Saints’ heads did not drop and, with their next attacking opportunity, pure attacking poetry ensued from a lineout as Mitchell’s one‑handed pass allowed Freeman to progress and offload to Pater, whose looping pass arrived into the grateful hands of Sleightholme to glide home.
Buoyed by the score, Sleightholme stomped free of a tackle and got his side on the front foot – from which they wouldn’t take a backward step. Pressure was piled on and Josh Bayliss was sent to the sin bin. The numerical advantage was almost immediately capitalised upon as Smith fixed his man and freed Freeman to waltz over under the bar before the Barwell Stand faithful.
Smith’s tap‑in conversion opened a five‑point lead, only for momentum to swing back wildly in the visitors’ favour as Archie Griffin rolled over from close range, then a break from Kepueli Tuipulotu freed Green into the left corner.
Before Bayliss returned from the sin bin, the scores were level once more and it was another divine effort as Mitchell and Freeman got the hosts through enemy lines, and before Bath could realign, Dingwall changed the trajectory of his run without a finger being laid on him to cross between the posts five minutes before the break.
Parity would not last into the interval, however, as Bath earned a central scrum penalty that Russell put between the posts to edge his side ahead.
SECOND HALF:
Bath retained their kick‑off and never looked like relinquishing it, as nearly two minutes of physical carries concluded with Green getting his second of the afternoon from a few metres out.
Try number ten of the match swiftly followed and it was a moment of pure opportunism from Pater, as the teenage fullback scooped up a spilt ball to run in from halfway – only for Santi Carreras to immediately atone for his error by landing a try of his own.
The remarkable nature of the game continued with neither side able to pull away, as Coles’ fine break was backed up by a neat pass for Chick to dive over. Soon afterwards, and entering the final third of the game, Saints wrestled back the lead with a moment of individual brilliance as Mitchell toed ahead into an unmarked acre of field and regathered to devastating effect.
There was an air of disbelief about the DPD Stadium as the tries kept flowing. Sleightholme doubled his tally from a break that started inside his own 22 and was finished with aplomb, and the long‑serving winger continued wreaking havoc as another break was ended cynically by Ollie Lawrence – who was sent to the sin bin.
While a man down, Bath swiped back with Bayliss going over close to the left corner flag, but the response was almost predictably swift as more sublime offloading from Hutchinson and Smith resulted in Coles taking Saints beyond 60 points – with Smith’s extras finally giving Saints some scoreboard comfort.
With that freedom, Saints decided to attack from anywhere and everywhere, and once more got their reward as Freeman found space on the right for his second, and his side’s eleventh try of a breathtaking afternoon of attacking rugby.
LINE-UPS:
SAINTS: 15 James Pater, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon, 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 4 Alex Coles, 5 JJ Van Der Mescht, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 Callum Chick.
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Ion Neculai, 19 Tom Lockett, 20 Ed Prowse, 21 Josh Taylor, 22 Archie McParland, 23 Anthony Belleau.
BATH: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Max Ojomoh, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Charlie Griffin, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Tom Carr-Smith; 1 Scott Kirk, 2 Kepueli Tuipulotu, 3 Archie Griffin, 4 Will Jeanes, 5 Ross Molony, 6 Josh Bayliss, 7 Miles Reid (c), 8 Arthur Green.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Beno Obano, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Ieuan Davies, 22 Ollie Lawrence, 23 Jaco Coetzee.