Bath got of the mark after 3 minutes when Butch James slotted a penalty in spite of some uncharacteristic baying from some of the Saints fraternity during his run-up. Bath looked fluid and wanting to carry on where they left off against Leicester as James created a delightful blindside overlap bringing Banahan in after 7 minutes when a try looked on, but was thwarted by some decent Saints defence.

On ten, Rose gave a penalty against Saints for scrum infringement and Butch James increased Bath's lead to 6 points. Reihana missed a penalty on14 minutes and that signalled the end of is kicking duties for the day. However first "real blood" went to Saints on 16 minutes when their lively winger Paul Diggin went over after Cuthbert failed to make a tackle on the 22. Stephen Myler stepped into kicking duties and Bath found themselves down 7-6 against the run of play.

However, Bath at this stage were having none of that, and from the re-start Northampton's possession was short-lived as Bemand started a move within Bath's half which saw the ball pass through a number of hands in the surge forward, finishing with Danny Grewcock in the outside centre channel feeding Cuthbert who went over courageously under a heap of Saints, making amends for his misdemeanour moments earlier at the other end. Butch James converted for 7-13.

Bath then had their best period of the game up to half-time, Cuthbert threatening another try and then what looked like a certain reward from a visit to the Saints 22 was only foiled by Bath themselves when Eliota F-S didn't look where he was passing with no-one in the channel outside him. Butch James extended the lead to 9 points on 27 minutes just before Crockett went off with what looked like a hamstring injury on 29 minutes. Enter Captain Grewcock. A smart crossfield kick from James found Higgins and in turn Banahan who went over but was adjudged not to have grounded correctly. However, with Saints on the back foot their former employee Daniel Browne went over from the back of the resultant 5 metre scrum on 37 minutes making it 10-21. James missed the conversion, and the half ended with a Stephen Myler penalty as Bath trooped off 21-13 to the good.

Unfortunately there ended Bath's contribution to the game from a coherent attacking perspective. The second half saw far too many speculative kicks up-field giving away possession needlessly,

Whilst on the subject of kicking, there is an emerging urgent need to address the availability of punts in Bath for the spring. That is first, a punt that can find touch and take the heat out of opposition attacking phases, and second the occasional use of a considered punt up-field where an opponent is out of position or when there is realistic possibility of the "chase" delivering ball.

Having been critical of the Bath attacking play in the second half, I need to balance the piece by congratulating the team on some superb defence on their own line for long periods of the second period. Rosey said "no" to two claims for a try when Bath players appeared to have burrowed under the driving Saints forwards. I suspect the second of the two was probably a legitimate score when we see it on the Sunday highlights, both having taken place under my nose within 10 metres.

However, the scene was set for the second half with a missed James penalty, and as Saints upped their game Easter scored their second on 47 minutes, Myler converting for 21-20. The introduction of Hopoper for Short followed immediately, then some ugly scenes followed as Reihana followed through on James's knee at an attempted clearance, with James then lucky to stay on the field minutes later for a high tackle on Kruger for which Rosey seemed to lecture him for hours, surprisingly with no use of coloured cards. Hopley was the first of Saints try claims on 52 mins - denied. Going into the last quarter Myler put over an outrageous drop goal from halfway for Saints to take the ascendancy for the first time in the game (23-21).

A flurry of substitutions on both sides saw Scaysbrook on for Browne and Jarvis for Bell (Bath) and  Shields and Tonga'uiha for Saints. Bath's pack were all over the place with Hopper at 8, Scays at 7, and Johnny F at 6. The 24-year old Saints prop was a significant pain in Bath's **** leading several charges forward with his impressive physicality and low centre of gravity, but I'm sure even he wouldn't have expected a gift of a try on 65 minutes, after Bath turned over possession in the Saints 22 and dithered as Spencer conjured a searing attack back through the surprised Bath ranks, the final ruck supplying the prop for a dive over. Unfortunately Higgins felt the brunt of the aerial assault and Stevo was soon on as his replacement. Myler missed the conversion from wide, but nonetheless things started to look bleak for a hapless Bath 28-21.

Bath however got up and had the final say with Johnny F scampering in after Dixon, Cuthbert and James had worked a clever move from the back of a breakdown on 72 minutes. Butch managed the conversion and it was honours even 28-28.

At the end Saints were doing all the pressing, Carlos Spencer conducting play with variety and style, and the longer it went on, the less we looked like scoring further, so it was left to the boot of Butch to bury the ball deep in the stand (straight hoof out from 15 metres) rather than mount a final attack from the 22.

I would say that Bath should consider this a very fortunate 2 points to have garnered out of a lacklustre performance. No doubt the heroics of last week will have taken their toll but the kicking tactics need to be revised to prevent a further deluge of points against as we go through the season. Harlequins will be a stiffer test next weekend - hopefully this run-out will not have the same effect as the Leicester game evidently did last week.

Northampton	28 - 28 (13 - 21)	Bath
Tries: Diggin, Easter, Tonga'uiha		Tries: Cuthbert, Browne, Faamatuainu
Penalties: Myler 2		Penalties: James 3
Drop-goals: Myler
Conversions: Myler 2		Conversions: James 2

 

 

Northampton Saints: 15. Stephen Myler   14. Chris Ashton   13. Bruce Reihana   12. James Downey   11. Paul Diggin   10. Carlos Spencer   9. Ben Foden   1. Tom Smith   2. Joe Gray   3. Barry Stewart   4. Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe   5. Juandre Kruger   6. Mark Hopley   7. Mark Easter   8. Roger Wilson   Replacements: 16. Paul Shields   17. Soane Tonga'uiha   18. Christian Day   19. Ben Lewitt   20. Lee Dickson   21. Nils Mordt   22. Nick Greenhalgh

Bath Rugby: 15. Jack Cuthbert   14. Andrew Higgins   13. Alex Crockett   12. Eliot Fuimaono-Sapolu   11. Matt Banahan   10. Butch James   9. Scott Bemand   1. David Barnes   2. Pieter Dixon   3. Duncan Bell   4. Justin Harrison   5. Danny Grewcock   6. Peter Short   7. Jonny Fa'amatuainu   8. Daniel Browne   Replacements: 16. Rob Hawkins   17. Aaron Jarvis   18. Stuart Hooper   19. James Scaysbrook   20. Mike Baxter   21. Shaun Berne   22. Michael Stephenson

Referee: David Rose

Att: 13,473

 

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