Northampton Outguns Bath in 119-Point Try-Scoring Spectacle
Northampton secured a high-scoring victory over Bath in a match that became the second-highest scoring game in English top-flight history.
Northampton emerged victorious in a high-octane encounter against Bath, with the teams combining for 18 tries in a 71-48 scoreline that marked the second-highest scoring game in English top-flight history. The combined 119 points saw the teams surpass 100 points with 15 minutes remaining in a display of relentless attacking rugby.
Ollie Sleightholme contributed a hat-trick of tries for Northampton, while Tommy Freeman added two. The victory marked a bounce-back for Northampton after a defeat the previous week. For Bath, this was their first loss of the season, and came despite making 12 changes to their lineup. Arthur Green scored twice for Bath, and Charlie Griffin also crossed for a try in his Premiership debut.
The record for the highest-scoring game in the English top flight remains Northampton's 94-33 win over Bristol in May, which totaled 127 points.
After halftime, Green quickly added to his tally, but Northampton's James Pater capitalized on a dropped ball by Santiago Carreras to score a try. Carreras later redeemed himself with a try of his own, though Northampton began to assert control. Josh Kemeny scored in the corner, followed by Alex Mitchell, who collected his own grubber kick for a solo effort. Sleightholme then completed his hat-trick after a sweeping counter-attack that began with Northampton turning over possession near their own line.
Despite Bath's Bayliss scoring to close the gap to 57-48, Northampton extended their lead. Alex Coles barged over before Freeman rounded off the scoring in the final stages.
Northampton's starting lineup included Pater, Freeman, Hutchinson, Dingwall, Sleightholme, Smith, Mitchell, Iyogun, Langdon, Kundiona, Coles, Van Der Mescht, Kemeny, Pollock, and Chick. Replacements were Smith, Fischetti, Neculai, Lockett, Prowse, Taylor, McParland, and Belleau.
Bath fielded Carreras, Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, C. Griffin, Russell, Carr-Smith, Kirk, Tuipulotu, A. Griffin, Jeanes, Molony, Bayliss, Reid, and Green. Their replacements were Dunn, Obano, Stuart, Ewels, Hill, Davies, Lawrence, and Coetzee.
Bath players Bayliss and Lawrence were shown yellow cards during the match.