Nothing could have encapsulated that like the final throes of an extraordinary game. Henry Arundell, who looked totally blinkered and out of sorts, found a glimmer of space down the left, inside the Northampton 22. The wing spotted Lawrence on his inside but the centre, who had already shelled one over the line, inexplicably dropped a pass with the line at his mercy, which scuppered Bath’s bonus-point hopes. Undoubtedly, the day belonged to the Saints. 2025 will forever belong to Bath and their treble heroes but, 2026? Saints would be as safe a bet as any.

Match details

Scoring sequence: 0-5 Freeman try, 0-7 Belleau con, 5-7 Du Toit try, 7-7 Russell con, 7-12 McParland try, 7-14 Belleau con, 12-14 Dunn try, 14-14 Russell con, 19-14 Du Toit try, 21-14 Russell con, 21-19 Freeman try, 21-21 Belleau con, 21-26 Pollock try, 21-28 Belleau con, 21-33 Pollock try, 21-36 Belleau pen, 21-38 Freeman try.

Bath: T de Glanville (S Carreras 56); J Cokanasiga, O Lawrence, M Ojomoh (C Harris 30), H Arundell; F Russell, B Spencer (T Carr-Smith 71); B Obano, T Dunn (D Frost 64), T du Toit (A Griffin 64), Q Roux (T Hill 56), R Molony, J Bayliss, S Underhill, M Reid.
Replacements: F van Wyk, G Pepper.
Sin-bin: D Frost.

Northampton: G Hendy; E Todaro, T Freeman, R Hutchinson (H Lumley, 22), J Ramm (O Sleightholme 73); A Belleau, A McParland (T James 76); E Iyogun, R Smith (H Walker 66), T Davison (E Millar Mills 61), E Prowse (A Benson 76), C Munga, C Chick, S Graham, H Pollock (F Brown 76).
Replacement: O Scola.
Sin-bin: E Prowse.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys.