Northampton beat Bath 71-48 in 18-try English top-flight thriller on 10 October 2026

Northampton beat Bath 71-48 at home in an 18-try English top-flight match on 10 October 2026, a 119-point contest that ranks as the second-highest scoring game in English top-flight history.

Both teams had passed 100 points with 15 minutes remaining as the game produced end-to-end attacking rugby; Northampton finished with 11 tries while Bath scored seven. Saints were recovering from a defeat by Bristol a week earlier, while Bath — who made 12 changes for the match — suffered their first loss of the season. Arthur Green scored twice for Bath and Charlie Griffin registered a try on his Premiership debut.

Rory Hutchinson set up Fin Smith for Northampton's opening try before Finn Russell created space that allowed Arthur Green to break through and Tom Carr-Smith to cross for Bath. Charlie Griffin then scored for the visitors and Sleightholme finished off Northampton's second try after slick passing across the backs. Josh Bayliss was shown yellow for repeated infringements and Russell's penalty on the stroke of half-time was the only score separating the sides at the break.

Green doubled his tally early in the second half but James Pater ran in from a Santiago Carreras knock-on to level matters for Northampton. Carreras later crossed for Bath, then Josh Kemeny and Alex Mitchell extended Northampton's advantage; Mitchell collected his own grubber kick to score. Ollie Sleightholme completed a hat-trick with two tries in the second half, Bayliss reduced the deficit to 57-48 before Alex Coles and Tommy Freeman finished Northampton's scoring late on.

Scorers and kicks: Northampton tries — Fin Smith, Ollie Sleightholme 3, Tommy Freeman 2, Fraser Dingwall, James Pater, Josh Kemeny, Alex Mitchell, Alex Coles; conversions — Fin Smith 8. Bath tries — Tom Carr-Smith, Charlie Griffin, Archie Griffin, Arthur Green 2, Santiago Carreras, Josh Bayliss; conversions — Finn Russell 5; penalty — Finn Russell 1.

Northampton started: Pater; Freeman, Hutchinson, Dingwall (c), Sleightholme; Fin Smith, Mitchell; Iyogun, Langdon, Kundiona; Coles, Van Der Mescht, Kemeny, Pollock, Chick. Replacements: Smith, Fischetti, Neculai, Lockett, Prowse, Taylor, McParland, Belleau. Bath started: Carreras; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, C. Griffin; Finn Russell, Carr-Smith; Kirk, Tuipulotu, A. Griffin; Jeanes, Molony, Bayliss, Reid (c), Green. Replacements: Dunn, Obano, Stuart, Ewels, Hill, Davies, Lawrence, Coetzee. Sin-bin: Bayliss (26), Lawrence (62).

The 119 points scored in the match fell short of the English top-flight record of 127 points set in Saints' 94-33 win over Bristol in May.