Prem Rugby: Northampton Saints stun Bath at The Rec to move top; Saracens beat Gloucester, Bristol defeat Newcastle

Northampton stunned the Prem Rugby champions Bath with a devastating display of running rugby featuring a hat-trick of tries by freewheeling England back Tommy Freeman.

The Saints ran in six tries to three and overtook Bath to top the table going into 2026 as a result of the 41-21 success.

It was Bath's first home defeat since losing to La Rochelle in the European Champions Cup on December 6, 2024 - and they did not even manage a losing bonus-point.

Both teams had made wholesale changes from last weekend, leaving the home side seemingly with a far stronger line-up than their opponents, on paper at least.

By the time Anthony Belleau had kicked off, Saints had been shunted from third in the table to fourth, following Saracens' win at Gloucester.

But the visitors could not have started or finished more purposefully, with flanker Henry Pollock also starring with two tries.

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Saracens secure bonus-point victory at Gloucester

Saracens ended a run of three successive Prem Rugby defeats by beating Gloucester 30-21 in bonus-point fashion at Kingsholm.

Flanker Theo McFarland inspired a first Prem win since mid-October by scoring two of his team's four tries.

Hooker Theo Dan and scrum-half Ivan van Zyl also crossed, while fly-half Owen Farrell kicked two penalties and two conversions to keep Saracens in the play-off picture.

Gloucester had their moments - notably through first-half touchdowns for locks Freddie Thomas and Arthur Clark, plus a late Will Knight try - with Ross Byrne converting all three scores, but they ultimately slipped to a seventh loss from eight league starts this term.

Bristol Bears stage fightback win to see off Newcastle challenge

Bristol overcame a 10-point deficit and a late red card for lock Joe Batley to seal a 36-27 win over a spirited Newcastle at Ashton Gate.

The Red Bulls had threatened to cause an upset when they led 27-17 early in the second half, but the introduction of Ellis Genge among others turned the game the hosts' way.

Bristol scored six tries, two from Louis Rees-Zammit with Matias Moroni, Gabriel Oghre, Noah Heward and Kaveti Ravouvou also on the score sheet. Tom Jordan added two conversions and James Williams one.

Newcastle secured their first league point of the season with four tries of their own. Oli Spencer scored two of them, Murray McCallum and Ollie Leatherbarrow the others, with Brett Connon kicking a penalty and two conversions.