Northampton outgun Bath in 119-point thriller

The Prem

Northampton (26) 71

Tries: F Smith, Sleightholme 3, Freeman 2, Dingwall, Pater, Kemeny, Mitchell, Coles Cons: F Smith 8

Bath (29) 48

Tries: Carr-Smith, C Griffin, A Griffin, Green 2, Carreras, Bayliss Cons: Russell 5 Pens: Russell

Northampton came out on top of a high-octane 18-try thriller at home to Bath, the second highest scoring game in English top-flight history.

The two sides had surpassed 100 points on the scoreboard with 15 minutes remaining and continued to showcase unstoppable, attacking flair as the play went end-to-end.

Northampton eventually streaked clear in the second half, with Ollie Sleightholme scoring a hat-trick and Tommy Freeman scoring twice as they finished with 11 tries and bounced back from defeat by Bristol a week ago.

The loss is the first of the season for Bath, who made 12 changes for the match, with Arthur Green getting two of their seven tries and Charlie Griffin also scoring one on his Prem debut.

The 119 points scored falls short of the record in the English top flight - the 127 points shared in Saints' 94-33 win over Bristol in May.

Rory Hutchinson fed Fin Smith to cross first for Saints and while Bath arrived with a younger-looking starting XV there was no evidence of inexperience, as a moment of world-class Finn Russell skill opened a gap for Green to break through and Tom Carr-Smith to cross.

Bath hit Northampton again through 21-year-old Charlie Griffin before Saints slickly whipped the ball between their backs until it reached Sleightholme for their second try.

Tommy Freeman dived under the posts for Northampton's third right after Bath's Josh Bayliss was shown yellow for repeated infringements but, again, there was nothing to separate the sides as Archie Griffin rolled over under two tacklers for the visitors' third.

Kepu Tuipulotu barged through midfield and found Green to make it 26-19 to Bath, which was quickly cancelled out by Fraser Dingwall's score at the other end, leaving Russell's penalty on the stroke of half-time the only mark of difference.

Green doubled his tally quickly after the restart, but Saints full-back James Pater pounced on Santiago Carreras' dropped ball to steal possession and sprint the distance to the line.

Carreras made amends with a try of his own although Northampton started turning the screw despite Bath unloading their bench of big-hitters.

Josh Kemeny scored in the corner, Alex Mitchell followed - collecting his own grubber kick in a solo showpiece - and Sleightholme capped a superb move that saw Saints turn the ball over by their own line and sweep up the field.

Sleightholme completed his hat-trick four minutes later and while Bayliss kept Bath in touch to close the gap to 57-48, it did not last as Saints had more in the tank.

Alex Coles barged over before Freeman rounded off a blockbuster day in the closing stages.

Northampton Saints head coach Sam Vesty told BBC Radio Northampton:

"Both teams took opportunities pretty quickly and I think both teams will be slightly disappointed in how they exited their end, in terms of when they've got the ball and got control of it.

"We gave it up quite a lot to them and put ourselves defensively under pressure We're not happy with the 48 part of that scoreline.

"We don't want it to be basketball. Obviously lots and lots of very good stuff but there's a good couple of areas for us to focus to be better - a more ruthless Bath and that's a very different game.

[On the attack] "We were so clinical with our execution of what we were doing. Absolutely fantastic.

"I thought our breakdown was very good, lots and lots of positives but we need to be better coming out of our end."

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol:

"It's dsappointing if you score 48 points away from home and lose the game.

"I think we lost control between minutes 50 and 60. The back end of both halves we conceded a yellow card and against a team like Saints it's difficult to contain them.

"But look at the positives, we played some fantastic rugby today."

Northampton: Pater; Freeman, Hutchinson, Dingwall (c), Sleightholme; Smith, Mitchell; Iyogun, Langdon, Kundiona; Coles, Van Der Mescht, Kemeny, Pollock, Chick.

Replacements: Smith, Fischetti, Neculai, Lockett, Prowse, Taylor, McParland, Belleau.

Bath: Carreras; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, C. Griffin; Russell, Carr-Smith; Kirk, Tuipulotu, A. Griffin; Jeanes, Molony, Bayliss, Reid (c), Green.

Replacements: Dunn, Obano, Stuart, Ewels, Hill, Davies, Lawrence, Coetzee.

Sin bin: Bayliss (26) Lawrence (62)

Referee: Matthew Carley