Northampton keep their nerve to hold off Bath and claim place in top four
Northampton Saints held their nerve to secure a hard-fought 24-18 win over Bath.
The Saints had moved into a nine-point lead in the second period after George Hendy added to first-half tries from Tom Pearson and Alex Coles.
But Bath refused to go quietly and they pushed hard until a Sam Graham breakdown penalty sealed the win for the Saints.
Bath had headed to the cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens with a rotated team that was without star fly-half Finn Russell.
Fin Smith put Northampton ahead inside the opening three minutes as he landed a long-range penalty.
Orlando Bailey soon levelled the scores at the other end, but he missed another chance soon after, taking too long to line his penalty attempt up, leading to Saints being handed a scrum.
Northampton soon punished the away fly-half, setting up a fine move that resulted in Tom James firing a fantastic flat pass to Pearson, who broke the line and scored.
Smith converted to make it 10-3, but Bath reacted well and grew into the game, producing a patient period of pressure that led to Thomas du Toit charging over for a try. Bailey converted to level the scores.
Northampton refused to be deterred and James was looking razor-sharp. The home scrum-half opened the door for the Saints’ second try, bamboozling Bath with his footwork before offloading for Coles to score.
Smith added the extras but Bath responded just before the break, working the ball well down the left before Tom de Glanville gathered and charged over the line. Bailey could not convert, leaving Northampton two points up at the interval.
Northampton did not waste much time adding to that in the second period. A clever lineout move resulted in Curtis Langdon setting up wing Hendy, who cruised in for his side’s third try of the game.
Smith converted to make it 24-15 and Northampton soon had some defensive work to do, winning a big penalty at a Bath scrum five metres from the home line.
Bath turned to their bench, bringing the likes of Charlie Ewels, Alfie Barbeary and Ben Spencer into the game.
Northampton did have a couple of spells in the Bath half, but failed to add to their lead, meaning the away side were well in the game.
And the hosts were having to work hard in defence as pressure came their way on a fairly regular basis, with Spencer having an impact.
Bath were able to cut the gap to just six points when Ethan Waller was penalised, Spencer slotting the penalty with ease.
Tension was rising in the home ranks with 10 minutes to go and Northampton were clinging on, with only a Max Ojomoh knock-on preventing Bath from scoring.
Bath kept coming and coming, looking ominous, but Graham got over the ball to spark celebrations among the home fans as their side moved into the top four.
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
43 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
43 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
43 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
6 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
6 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments