Northampton 71-48 Bath: Sleightholme hat-trick lights up 18-try thriller

Ollie Sleightholme scored a hat-trick as Northampton beat Bath 71-48 in an extraordinary Premiership match featuring 18 tries at Franklin’s Gardens.

Saints crossed 11 times and Bath seven, producing the second-highest aggregate score in the competition’s history, according to Sky Sports’ match report.

Northampton 71-48 Bath: Saints recover from half-time deficit

Bath led 29-26 at the interval after Finn Russell’s penalty completed a first half in which both teams secured their try bonus points.

Arthur Green’s second try shortly after the restart helped extend the visitors’ advantage to ten points.

Northampton responded through James Pater before Alex Mitchell collected his own kick ahead to put Saints back in front.

Sleightholme added two further tries to complete his treble, while Tommy Freeman also finished with a double. Freeman’s second, created by Anthony Belleau, was Northampton’s 11th try.

Van Graan rues costly final quarter

Bath director of rugby Johan van Graan pointed to his side’s mistakes as Northampton pulled away.

“Ultimately, they punished us on our mistakes,” he said, in comments reported by AFP.

The 119-point total sits behind Northampton’s 94-33 victory over Bristol in May, which produced 127 points.

Despite the attacking spectacle, Sleightholme acknowledged the defensive work still required: “We don’t want to concede that many points so we’ve got stuff to work on.”

The result followed Leicester’s comeback victory over Gloucester on Friday. Follow our rugby coverage for more results and reaction.