Former Borthwick option pushes England case with hat-trick in Saints win

Ollie Sleightholme scored a hat-trick as Gallagher PREM champions Northampton Saints thumped Bath 71-48 on an astonishing afternoon at DPD Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.

Eighteen tries were scored in total in what was the Gallagher PREM’s second-highest scoring match of all time, with Saints bouncing back from defeat at Bristol Bears last week in spectacular style.

It was they who struck first after seven minutes when Fin Smith glided through a gap for the opener, which he could not convert.

Bath’s response was excellent and swift as Finn Russell’s off-load sent Arthur Green into space, with his pass inside giving Tom Carr-Smith an easy finish and Russell a simple conversion.

The visitors were over again three minutes later following a tapped penalty as Carr-Smith whipped a pass left for Charlie Griffin to finish in the corner, with Russell converting brilliantly.

The Saints were quickly back in business, though, as some wonderful quick hands led to Tommy Freeman off-loading to James Pater, whose long pass put Sleightholme in the clear, Smith’s conversion making it a two-point game.

After Bath had Josh Bayliss sin-binned for killing the ball close to his own line, Northampton took the lead when Smith’s pass put Freeman under the posts.

Despite being down to 14 men, Bath hit back hard again as they levelled at 19-19 when tighthead Archie Griffin barged his way over from close range down the right.

And they led when Kepu Tuipulotu broke though some flimsy tackling before putting Green in the clear, although Saints soon squared proceedings once more when their captain, Fraser Dingwall, glided through.

Russell’s penalty with the final kick of a breathless first half had Bath 29-26 ahead at the break, and they extended their lead within two minutes of the restart when Carr-Smith set up Green’s second of the afternoon.

Saints were momentarily back within three points when Pater ran in after Santi Carreras fumbled Russell’s pass, but the Argentinian soon made amends when Russell’s looping ball gave him a walk-in.

Back came Northampton again when Josh Kemeny scored in the corner from Alex Coles’ pass to make it a dozen tries shared between the two teams in 51 minutes.

And Saints led again when Alex Mitchell scored a lovely individual try by collecting his own kick ahead before Sleightholme’s second score brought up 50 points for the hosts.

There was just no let-up as Sleightholme ran in under the posts to complete his hat-trick, with Bayliss pulling a score back for Bath before Smith’s strong carry allowed Coles to get in on the act.

There was time for one more try as more quick hands from Rory Hutchinson and Anthony Belleau put Freeman in for his second, and Northampton’s 11th, of an extraordinary afternoon.