Northampton Saints thumped Bath 71-48 at DPD Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday, with Ollie Sleightholme scoring a hat-trick in an astonishing afternoon.
Eighteen tries were scored in total in what was the Premiership's second-highest scoring match of all time. The result saw Saints bounce back from defeat at Bristol Bears last week.
Fin Smith opened the scoring after seven minutes, gliding through a gap, though he could not convert. Bath responded swiftly, Finn Russell's off-load sending Arthur Green into space before his pass inside gave Tom Carr-Smith an easy finish, with Russell converting.
Bath were over again three minutes later after a tapped penalty, Carr-Smith passing left for Charlie Griffin to finish in the corner, Russell converting brilliantly. Saints hit back when Tommy Freeman off-loaded to James Pater, whose long pass put Sleightholme clear, Smith's conversion making it a two-point game.
After Bath's Josh Bayliss was 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 levelled at 19-19 through Archie Griffin, and led when Kepu Tuipulotu broke through before putting Green clear. Saints squared proceedings once more when captain Fraser Dingwall glided through.
Russell's penalty with the final kick of the 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. Saints were momentarily back within three points when Pater ran in after Santi Carreras fumbled Russell's pass, but Carreras soon made amends when Russell's looping ball gave him a walk-in.
Northampton came back again when Josh Kemeny scored in the corner from Alex Coles' pass, making it a dozen tries shared between the two teams in 51 minutes. 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.
Sleightholme then 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 quick hands from Rory Hutchinson and Anthony Belleau put Freeman in for his second, and Northampton's 11th, of an extraordinary afternoon.