Saints edge title-rivals Bath in 12-try thriller

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.