Northampton strengthen grip on top of Prem after thrilling win against Bath

If only these two could play each other every week. Having wowed the rugby world a fortnight ago with their Champions Cup quarter-final at the Rec, scoring 11 tries between them, here they went one better and scored 12. Six each, obviously. The scores were level as the clock ticked red. The crowd were as breathless as the players. And then, alas, the winning moment came not from a moment of brilliance, although Fin Smith tried for one with his dummy and drop-goal attempt. He missed that, but the television match official had spotted one of those agonising high tackles by a tall man on a dipping, slightly shorter one. Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi it was who clipped the bustling Henry Pollock on the chin. Smith did not miss the subsequent penalty, the first penalty taken at goal, the last kick of the match. Phil Dowson, obviously, bemoaned the defence of his first-choice unit against Bath’s reserves. But the rest of us don’t have to worry about that. “Fun is a much-underrated word in rugby,” the Northampton director of rugby eventually conceded. “It’s supposed to be fun. It wasn’t much fun in the last 10 minutes, but we’re capable of things like that. But we have to make sure we get all facets of the game right.” Tommy Freeman scored a hat-trick to pull him to one shy of Ben Cohen on the list of Northampton try-scorers, and we thought his third had won the match, another brilliant move setting him free through the outside-centre channel where he combined with Tom Litchfield to score with barely five to go. But Bath struck again in those last five minutes, Kepu Tuipulotu driving low round the fringes of a ruck. Surely these two will meet again in the final in June. That match will be a sell-out if there is any justice – or just sense – in the world. The Saints are now in the driving seat, opening up a four-point lead over Bath at the top of the table with four to play. But that is mere detail. This was no occasion for stale numbers. The easiest prediction to make of any match was that this one would involve tries. Both sides love a good try at the best of times, but with Bath fielding a second/third team in advance of their Champions Cup semi-final in Bordeaux next weekend, that extra bit of give had been engineered. Northampton may or may not have had revenge on their mind. At least they can now, the saying goes, focus on the league. They chose not to rest anyone, so we knew they would score tries too. And the sun was out. Northampton are the surest bet these days for putting on a display of fabulous rugby. Those England half-backs of theirs are different class, so too those other England internationals, Fraser Dingwall and Freeman. And Litchfield is establishing himself as their equal. Smith and Dingwall combined in only the third minute for the former to go over for the first try. Bath were quick to respond. Bernard van der Linde’s break coaxed Litchfield into a yellow-card offence, and Ciaran Donoghue’s long pass put Louie Hennessey over out wide, whence Donoghue converted. Will Muir’s deliberate knock-on earned him a yellow card too, and Freeman ambled over in his absence for Northampton’s second, before the most beautiful display of handling by the Saints’ midfielders and George Hendy – another class act – set Ollie Sleightholme away for their third on 20 minutes. The lively Hennessey set up a try for Arthur Green five minutes later, but then came the try of the match. It looked as if Bath would score it, Chris Harris taking them to the brink of the tryline, but Saints turned the ball over and away they went. Litchfield, Mitchell, then Sleightholme. He seemed sure to score, but Josh Bayliss is as fast as any back and somehow ran him down. No matter, the ball came right, and Dingwall put Freeman over for his second and a 26-14 lead for the home team at the break. And it just carried on in the second half. Bath’s third followed less than a minute in, Donoghue’s miss-pass releasing Hennessey again down the right, and Hennessey’s inside ball sending Tom Carr-Smith over. Sleightholme responded for Saints with their fifth a few minutes later, from an attacking lineout. Then two further tries from Bath, both unconverted, tied things up at 31-31 for the final quarter. Tom de Glanville finished off one intense period of pressure on 50 minutes, before Archie Griffin burrowed over at the end of another on the hour. Five tries apiece. Then it was six. And the stage was set.