A single late Andy Beattie try was all Bath could manage as they saw the home side gain a valuable bonus point for scoring four. John Connolly said in the week that he was worried about the sluggish play by his team and clearly he was right to be worried. Beattie's try was a solo effort. The ball squirted loose from a ruck, the big forward charged through a Saints player, picked up the ball to score what was no more than a consolation. Chris Malone missed the conversion leaving the Saints 15 points clear at the end.

There will be a lot of video-watching by the Bath squad on Monday to see why their errors and lack of finishing contributed so readily to Northampton's win. Firstly Bath had a promising attack snuffled out by a strong defence, then Steve Borthwick lost the ball only for Mark Robinson to spot space on the blind side and put Wylie Human in at the corner to score against his old club. Released players coming back to haunt you is the nightmare of all coaches and Connolly and Foley will be dreaming about Wylie tonight!

Within eight minutes it happened yet again. Bath made a great break through Brendan Daniel, who offloaded the ball to Matt Perry who passed on to Robbie Fleck. Unfortunately Fleck dropped the pass and Northampton took advantage. John Rudd got the ball with nobody in front of him and had enough pace to score: this was becoming Turnover City for the Northampton townies.

In the 57th minute Mark Robinson pinched the ball from Zak Feaunati as he fiddled at the base of the scrum and made a short break up-field. Within moments John Rudd made another powerful run through the midfield and the ball found its way to Mark Tucker who beat Martyn Wood to score.

Bath's turnover misery continued in the 67th minute. After pressurising the Saints line Bath again lost the ball. By this stage Northampton really had their tails up and attacked the visitors from behind their own try line, creating an overlap and Bruce Reihana scored following a passing move up the length of the field. There was no way back for Bath.

Beattie's late try helped make the score look more respectable but there was no hiding the fact that Bath were well beaten and this was not the start all Bath supporters were hoping for.

On the strength of this game Alistair Hignell will be pleased with his prediction for Bath this season. Come on boys lets prove him wrong!!

Northampton (15)29-14(6) Bath Tries: Human Rudd Tucker Reihana Tries: Beattie Cons: Grayson Drahm 2 Pens: Grayson Pens: Malone 3

Northampton Saints: Bruce Reihana; John Rudd, Mark Tucker, Marc Stcherbina, Wylie Human; Paul Grayson, Mark Robinson; Tom Smith, Steve Thompson, Robbie Kempson; Selbourne Boome, Damien Brown; Andrew Blowers, Corne Krige (c), Grant Seely

Subs: Dan Richmond, Robbie Morris, Matt Lord, Darren Fox, Johnny Howard, Shane Drahm, Ben Cohen

Bath Rugby: Matt Perry; Alex Crockett, Robbie Fleck, Spencer Davey, Brendon Daniel; Chris Malone, Martyn Wood; David Barnes, Jonathan Humphreys (c), Duncan Bell; Steve Borthwick, Danny Grewcock; Andy Beattie, Michael Lipman, Zak Feaunati

Subs: Nick Walshe, Lee Mears, Matt Stevens, Joe Maddock, James Scaysbrook, Gareth Delve, Rob Fidler

Ref: Chris White
Touch Judges: Steve Savage, Stuart Terheege

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

• Think you know your sport? Click here to try the Sportnetwork Prize Quizzes