Northampton remain on course for play-offs after unplugging Bath lead
Northampton stayed on course for the Gallagher Premiership play-offs after staging a remarkable second-half fightback to beat Bath 36-31.
Saints, who trailed 31-12 with 20 minutes to go, moved into fourth place as they somehow conjured a bonus-point win at the Recreation Ground without their suspended Wales captain Dan Biggar and injured England skipper Courtney Lawes.
Tries from Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman, plus a 76th-minute penalty try, hauled them level before substitute hooker Mike Haywood touched down in the final act of a gripping game.
Bath finished the game down to 12 men after all the replacements had been used, as Josh Bayliss went off injured and Jaco Coetzee, then Semesa Rokoduguni were yellow-carded during the closing seconds.
Scrum-half Ben Spencer’s try double, plus touchdowns from centre Max Clark and wing Will Muir, looked to have been enough to send Saints packing, while Spencer and his half-back partner Danny Cipriani each kicked two conversions, and Cipriani added a penalty.
But Northampton, who saw substitute back-row forward Brandon Nanson carried off following a lengthy second-half stoppage, ultimately moved fourth above Exeter and Gloucester.
Centre Matt Proctor and number eight Juarno Augustus scored earlier Northampton tries as they claimed a first Premiership away win against Bath since 2015, ending a run of six successive defeats.
There were a few anxious moments for Bath as Saints rallied late in the game, and then Northampton upped the pressure and their hosts could not respond.
Bath showed four changes from the side knocked out of European Challenge Cup contention by Edinburgh last weekend, with Cipriani, Muir, lock Mike Williams and flanker Miles Reid all returning.
Biggar’s suspension, meanwhile, meant that George Furbank moved to fly-half for Saints, with Freeman at full-back and Ollie Sleightholme on the wing. Teimana Harrison replaced Lawes, and lock Alex Coles also started.
Bath made the early running, and it took some frantic Northampton defending to deny Clark a try following his midfield partner Jonathan Joseph’s well-placed kick.
Saints, though, responded by setting up camp inside Bath’s 22, and they took the lead following a number of close-range charges that Bath managed to repel.
But there was no stopping the visitors when they worked possession wide, and scrum-half Mitchell’s pass sent Proctor over for a 17th-minute try that Furbank converted.
Bath then hit back early in the second quarter, and this time the Joseph-Clark combination conjured a try as Clark gathered possession following his midfield partner’s kick and crossed unopposed.
Cipriani converted to put Bath level, and after Furbank missed a straightforward penalty chance, Bath struck again.
Saints completed some outstanding last-ditch tackles, but they ran out of defensive numbers, and Cipriani’s short pass gave Muir a simple run-in, with the fly-half’s conversion making it 14-7.
Northampton were their own worst enemies at times, kicking poorly or guilty of wrong options, and Cipriani opened up a 10-point interval advantage when he kicked a 20-metre penalty.
Saints needed a response, and it arrived just five minutes into the second period when Augustus crashed over from close range, but Furbank was unable to convert.
And it proved short-lived hope for the visitors as Bath stung with them with two quickfire tries both scored by Spencer.
He darted around the blindside of a lineout for his first, the finished off following an opportunist break, and he brilliantly converted both tries in the face of a gusting breeze as Bath moved past 30 points.
Mitchell gave Saints a glimmer of hope when he darted over for a try 15 minutes from time, then Freeman crossed shortly afterwards to set up a rousing finish, and Northampton squeezed over the finishing line amid dramatic scenes.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments