The Prem
Northampton (26) 41
Tries: F Smith, Freeman 3, Sleightholme 2 Cons: F Smith 4 Pens: Smith
Bath (14) 38
Tries: Hennessey, Green, Carr-Smith, de Glanville, Griffin, Tuipulotu Cons: Donoghue 4
Northampton Saints confirmed their status as the Prem team to beat, with a last-minute penalty from Fin Smith securing a breathless 41-38 victory over title-rivals Bath at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
League leaders Saints edged a highly competitive first-half against the team in second, scoring tries through Smith, Ollie Sleightholme and a brace for Tommy Freeman, with Bath responding through Louie Hennessey and Arthur Green.
The seesaw nature of the contest continued in the second half, with Tom Carr-Smith and Sleightholme exchanging tries, before Tom de Glanville and Archie Griffin levelled the scores.
With time running down, Freeman secured his hat-trick before Kepu Tuipulotu restored parity, but there was still time for Smith to keep his cool and slot the winning points.
Saints got off to a fast start in front of an expectant home crowd, with Fraser Dingwall making a nuisance of himself in midfield before feeding Smith to exploit a gap to run in and score.
But they were pegged back soon after.
With Tom Litchfield in the sin-bin for not rolling away following Bernard van der Linde’s midfield break, the ball eventually found its way to Hennessey on the wing and he crossed to score.
With Bath reduced to 14 men following a deliberate knock-on from Will Muir, the Saints restored their lead with Alex Mitchell finding Tommy Freeman to go over in the corner.
Saints soon added a third through Sleightholme, who powered down the wing untouched following quick interplay between Freeman and George Hendy in midfield.
But Bath were not to be held off for long. Off the back of a scrum, Hennessey did well to draw multiple defenders before freeing his arms to feed Will Butt, who offloaded to Green to go over for a well-worked second.
With Bath knocking on the door again, the Saints snaffled the ball in their own 22 with Sleightholme leading a breathless counter-attack into the visitors’ half.
Having been tackled by Josh Bayliss, the ball was recycled and eventually ended up in the hands of Freeman, who went over for the Saints’ bonus-point score.
The pace of the game was unrelenting and barely had Luke Pearce blown the whistle to start the second-half, Bath were back in contention.
Ciaran Donoghue, in his first appearance of the season after recovering from a knee injury, threw the perfect miss pass in the Saints 22, releasing Hennessey down the wing, who fed back inside for Carr-Smith to score.
Sleightholme then restored the Saints lead from close range before de Glanville dotted down after Frost was halted metres short of the Saints’ line.
Bath’s power game came to the fore as Griffin forced his way over following a period of sustained pressure in the Saints’ 22 to level things up before the match swung again.
Finding open space down the wing, Litchfield fed Freeman for his hat-trick before Tuipulotu went over from close range to set up a tense finish.
But with Bath penalised for a high-tackle on Henry Pollock with the clock in the red, it fell to Smith to deliver the final blow in yet another high-scoring match between the two teams and a carbon copy of the Saints’ nail-biting win in January 2025.
Northampton: Hendy; Freeman, Litchfield, Dingwall (c), Sleightholme; F Smith, Mitchell; Iyogun, Wright, Green; Lockett, Prowse, Kemeny, Graham, Pollock.
Replacements: R Smith, Fischetti, Kundiona, Van der Mescht, Munga, Chick, McParland, Hutchinson.
Sin-bin: Litchfield (7).
Bath: De Glanville; Hennessey, Harris, Butt, Muir; Donoghue, Van der Linde; Kirk, Frost, Verden; Richards, Molony, Bayliss, Reid (c), Green.
Replacements: Tuipulotu, Van Wyk, Griffin, Opoku-Gyamfu, Hill, Carr-Smith, Winters, Underhill.
Sin-bin: Muir (13).
Referee: Luke Pearce.