Bath 32-9 Northampton: Freddie Burns inspires home side to victory

Freddie Burns finished the night with 17 points to his name

Freddie Burns inspired Bath to a 32-9 Aviva Premiership victory over Northampton Saints at the Recreation Ground.

The fly-half finished the night with 17 points to his name alongside wing Matt Banahan, with replacement prop Nick Auterac and substitute hooker Ross Batty all putting tries on the board for the home side.

Northampton Saints' Piers Francis notched up three penalties for the visitors, who remain 10th after their ninth defeat of the campaign.

For an hour, the contest was an attritional one but Bath hit top gear in the closing quarter of the match to take control.

Northampton had set the agenda from the early with all of the territory and Francis put two penalties on the board to provide them with 6-0 lead.

Bath's second meaningful foray into Northampton's half lead to a straight-forward three points from 30 metres as Burns slotted a penalty after a ruck offence.

Todd Blackadder's side have now won their last four matches in all competitions

The home side continued from there. A well-constructed move down the right saw scrum-half Kahn Fotuali'i played off the ball and, from 24 metres, Burns levelled proceedings with his second penalty.

When Northampton illegally pushed Bath's jumpers at a line, Burns duly connected with another kick at a goal and put his team in front.

The half looked to finish in a midfield stalemate, yet it burst into life when Northampton centre Tom Stephenson's pass went loose.

Bath's Ben Tapuai hacked the ball on before Banahan grabbed it and raced past the despairing opposition defence for a sparkling try that Burns converted, putting Bath 16-6 ahead at the break.

Burns and Francis swapped penalties before the hour, but Saints found themselves with a big task to rescue the victory when prop Kieran Brookes tackled home lock Elliott Stooke without the ball.

Burns kicked a fifth penalty and then duly set up replacement Auterac for a five-pointer.

With three minutes left Batty went over in the corner after productive work from replacements Josh Lewis and Chris Cook, but Bath could not find a fourth try that would have returned a bonus-point.