Aviva Premiership: Bath 11-13 Northampton
Last Updated: 05/12/15 5:25pm
A dominant Saints scrum built the platform for a 13-11 victory over Bath in the Aviva Premiership on Saturday afternoon.
The Northampton pack were in complete control of the set piece which kept them ahead when Bath threatened to fight back from a 10-3 deficit in the second half.
Despite several scrum penalties and a yellow card in their favour, Saints only managed a 3-0 lead at half-time before a Luther Burrell interception try put some distance between the sides. Bath took the lead late in the game but JJ Hanrahan won it for Saints from the tee on the back of yet another set-piece penalty.
Northampton's scrum wasted no time asserting early dominance on their Bath counterparts, and after first turning down a kickable penalty in favour of an attacking lineout they took the sensible option at the second time of asking for a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes.
Bath were almost able to hit straight back when they had a lineout five metres out from the opposition line, but the throw missed the jumper for an easy turnover to the visitors that allowed them to clear their lines.
The referee finally lost his patience with Bath's retreating scrum, sending prop Henry Thomas to the sin bin for repeated team infringements with six minutes remaining in the half. But despite the extra man Northampton were unable to put any more points on the board before the break.
Immediately after half-time George Ford levelled the score for the home side, and when Thomas returned to the field the damage done to Bath during the sin bin period was non-existent.
However Ford orchestrated the first Northampton try of the game when he feigned to move inside before throwing a looping pass wide which was gratefully intercepted by England team-mate Burrell for a score that gave Hanrahan an easy conversion and a seven-point lead.
Ford reduced the deficit by three points with his boot when Saints were pinged for illegally playing the ball at the ruck, but failed with another attempt in the 54th minute.
The home side then began to grow into game, throwing the ball around with more confidence than they had for the 55 minutes that preceded, but each enterprising attack ended with a frustrating handling error or a turnover.
Finally England's Semesa Rokoduguni ended the streak of poor finishing by tearing up the right touchline for a try in the corner. Ford missed the conversion, but Bath led for the first time in the game with just one point separating the sides.
Northampton took the lead in the 73rd minute from another scrum penalty, and though Bath fought back as they continued to give the ball width, they were unable to grab a late win as they fell to their fourth Premiership loss out of six games.
