Bath beat Northampton to earn home semi-final
Will Muir's first-half try was his fifth of the season for Bath
- Published
Gallagher Premiership
Bath: (17) 43
Tries: Bayliss, Muir 2, Dunn, Spencer, Barbeary Pens: Russell Cons: Russell 4, Spencer
Northampton: (5) 12
Tries: Ramm, Seabrook Cons: Savala
Bath secured a home tie in the Premiership play-offs with a dominant victory over much-changed leaders Northampton at the Recreation Ground.
Early tries by Josh Bayliss and Will Muir provided impetus and Bath opened a 17-0 lead before James Ramm pulled one back just before the break.
Tom Dunn rounded off a rolling maul soon after the re-start and an interception score from his own half by skipper Ben Spencer earned the vital bonus point.
Alfie Barbeary and Spencer took the try count to six as Bath sealed second place in the table, level on 60 points with Saints, who grabbed a late consolation through Tom Seabrook and finished top for the first time since 2015 despite their sixth defeat of the campaign.
Bath will host third-placed Sale - who won 20-10 at 2023 champions Saracens, in the play-offs on Saturday, 1 June, with Northampton taking on Sarries the night before for a place in the final at Twickenham on 8 June.
Hosts Bath - who were last in the play-offs in 2020 - made only one change for this match as Bayliss replaced Barbeary, while Saints retained only Ollie Sleightholme and Angus Scott-Young from the XV that began the 90-0 demolition of Gloucester in their previous game.
England internationals Alex Mitchell, Tommy Freeman, Fin Smith, Fraser Dingwall George Furbank and Courtney Lawes were among those given the day off, a calculated gamble which did not pay off as they conceded two tries inside the first 15 minutes.
Bayliss dribbled forward from a five-yard scrum before diving over despite the close attention of Tom James, and the second followed after Sleightholme had kicked straight into touch from just outside his own 22, as scrum-half Spencer fed Muir for a clear run to the line.
Burger Odendaal was held up just inches short as Saints strove for a reply but Rory Hutchinson, fit again following a back problem, struggled to be a creative force in his first start for Saints wearing the number 10 shirt.
And Finn Russell's penalty put Bath 17-0 ahead before the visitors managed to mount some concerted pressure.
England head coach Steve Borthwick (back right) was in the crowd at The Rec
Superb tackling kept Northampton at bay, typified by big hits from Ted Hill and Beno Obano, but full-back Matt Gallagher was sin-binned following a series of offsides and Seabrook fed Ramm as Northampton finally broke their duck just before the interval.
Bath's rolling maul paid off early in the second half as Dunn was forced over and Joe Cokanasiga should have added another, only to drop a Russell pass which was fractionally behind him, with the line at his mercy.
Hutchinson's difficult afternoon got worse as his telegraphed pass was picked off by Spencer, who had the legs to hold off Sleightholme in a dash for the line.
Northampton again found Bath’s maul too much as Barbeary, on as a replacement, burst over for the fifth, and following a turnover in their own half the home side spun it along the line before Ollie Lawrence fed Muir to sprint in from 30 metres for his second.
There was no let-up in intensity from Bath as Gallagher's recovery tackle denied Archie McParland, but Northampton finally found a way through with just a couple of minutes remaining as Paul Hill’s backhand offload gave Seabrook the opening to dive into the corner.
Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol:
"I'm so glad for the city of Bath - we've come a long way in 22 months. The bigger picture is it's all about making a difference and it's great to see people smile.
"As I said from the start, 18 rounds, we'll see where we are. We're joint top on 60 points and we've got a home semi-final. That's pretty special.
"Anything is possible - you've just got make sure you put yourself in a good position. We got the five points and that's brilliant.
"We'll take our time and assess what we need to do [against Sale]. It's all about performance in two weeks' time, but for now just enjoy the moment."
Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson told BBC Radio Northampton:
"We didn't really perform as we wanted to in lots of different facets of the game.
"We felt we had enough quality but just didn't get it right for a variety of reasons - it's quite a chastening experience and we've got to make sure it really focuses us moving forwards.
"We didn't fire a shot in the first 30 minutes - 17-5 at half-time we felt we were still in the game but conceded immediately after.
"We don't need to worry about the league table, there's no trophy for that. We've got two weeks to prepare and we've got to make sure all roads lead to that semi-final and we put a performance together."
Bath: Gallagher; Cokanasiga, Lawrence, Redpath, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit, Roux, Ewells, Hill, Underhill, Bayliss.
Replacements: Annett, Schoeman, Stuart, Stooke, Barbeary, Schreuder, Bailey, Reid.
Sin bin: Gallagher (38 mins)
Northampton: Ramm; Seabrooke, Litchfield, Odendaal, Slightholme; Huthcinson, James; Iyogun, S Matavesi, Millar Mills, Mayanavanua, Lockett, Scott-Young, Ludlam (c), Graham.
Replacements: R Smith, Haffar, Hill, Munga, Pearson, McParland, Savala, Thame.
Referee: Christophe Ridley