England duo star as Saints hand Bath shock home defeat

Northampton stunned the Gallagher PREM champions with a devastating display of running rugby featuring a hat-trick of tries by freewheeling England back Tommy Freeman.

The Saints ran in six tries to three and overtook Bath to top the table going into 2026.

It was Bath’s first home defeat since losing to La Rochelle in the European Champions Cup on December 6, 2024 – and they did not even manage a bonus point.

Both teams had made wholesale changes from last weekend, leaving the home side seemingly with a far stronger line-up than their opponents, on paper at least.

By the time Anthony Belleau had kicked off, Saints had been shunted from third in the table to fourth, following Saracens’ win at Gloucester.

But the visitors could not have started more purposefully, as Freeman sliced through untouched from clean line-out possession in the third minute and Belleau added the conversion.

Bath were quick to hit back as World Dream XV prop Thomas du Toit drove over the try-line, courtesy of a neatly disguised offload from number eight Josh Bayliss. Russell converted.

Saints, already feeling the heat in the scrum, lost second row Ed Prowse to the sin-bin in the 13th minute after a clash of heads with Miles Reid. All too predictably, Bath were soon ahead for the first time with a catch-and-drive try by Tom Dunn, converted by Russell.

Never mind being a man short, the visitors sought to attack at every opportunity and were richly rewarded for their endeavour when scrum-half Archie McParland broke clear to score at the posts, leaving an easy conversion for Belleau.

They looked to have gone ahead again but Freeman’s touchdown under the posts was ruled out for obstruction.

Bath wrested back the lead themselves five minutes into the second half with a second try by du Toit, converted by Russell, but the visitors set about running the champions off their feet.

Unfazed by another disallowed try, they hit back in devastating fashion in the 55th minute when full-back George Hendy picked up a loose ball near his own 22. He sped away up the right wing before presenting number eight Henry Pollock with a try at the post, leaving Belleau with another easy conversion for a 28-21 lead and the try bonus point.

Bath struggled to cope with the unrelenting pace and variety of Northampton’s attack and went further behind on 65 minutes when a catch-and-drive presented Pollock with a second try, this time unconverted. Replacement hooker Dan Frost had just been sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on.

With 71 minutes on the clock and sights set on a famous victory, Belleau settled for a penalty which stretched the lead to 36-21.

Fittingly, Freeman completed the rout with his third try, again cutting through a tired Bath defence in the 76th minute, the score again unconverted.