Sleightholme hat-trick fires up Northampton in 11-try blitz of Bath

Chalk this up as a victory for the Northampton Knicks. In a remarkable match with 18 tries, 119 points racked up and defence relegated to the merest of afterthoughts, the defending Prem champions romped home.Ollie Sleightholme helped himself to a hat-trick and Tommy Freeman two of Northampton’s 11, in the second-highest scoring match in the league’s history, behind Saints’ 94-33 win over Bristol in May.Bath, for their part, scored seven tries but ended up comfortably beaten. For it was a contest that left us questioning much of what we thought we knew about the sport. Tries are supposed to come at a premium, not as an inevitability.Some wonderful ones were scored, the fly-halves Fin Smith and Finn Russell showcased their array of tricks, but when 69 defenders are beaten in 80 minutes, you are left wondering quite what you have witnessed.A penny for the thoughts of the England head coach, Steve Borthwick. If England try to play with this sort of abandon in the coming autumn Tests they are in for a rude awakening. International rugby does not give out tries for free.It was, however, entertaining. The comparison with basketball is often held up as a criticism by purists who love nothing more than an arm-wrestle, but not for nothing are the Harlem Globetrotters one of the hottest tickets in town. It is just that we are having to recalibrate what we thought we knew about the domestic game. A number of directors of rugby are convinced that while we are witnessing an attacking boom, defence will soon be back in vogue. On this evidence we are still waiting.Northampton drew first blood with Smith cruising through a gap after a lovely show and go but, not to be outdone, Russell replied with a moment of magic of his own, offloading to Arthur Green, who fed Tom Carr-Smith to score. Bath’s ascendancy was soon rewarded again with Charlie Griffin squeezing over on the left.Saints responded with Sleightholme finishing a glorious move – showcasing the kind of dexterity the All Blacks had shown a few hours earlier – before James Pater put his winger clear.Northampton had found a purple patch and after Freeman had burst down the right, the Bath flanker Josh Bayliss was shown a yellow card for a cynical infringement. Moments later, Freeman was ghosting in under the posts.Bath came again, in no small part thanks to the excellence of Kepu Tuipulotu. A textbook jackal earned Bath a penalty and after Russell kicked to the corner, Archie Griffin barrelled over. The visitors were ahead again when Tuipulotu bulldozed his way through a pair of tackles and found Green on his left. The lead did not last long as Dingwall dummied his way over.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionOllie Sleightholme taps down the second of his three tries in a high-scoring collision with Bath. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty ImagesTwo tries apiece inside 11 minutes of the second half kept Bath’s noses ahead. Green forced his way over on the left soon after the restart before Pater scampered clear after Santi Carreras had spilled a long pass near halfway. The Argentina full-back made amends by waltzing over before Josh Kemeny was released on the left.Alex Mitchell broke away for Northampton’s seventh try to restore the lead at 45-41. Bath introduced their Bomb Squad, but by the end of the third quarter Northampton were further ahead.Freeman began a flowing move inside his own 22 before Sleightholme had the pace to finish in the corner. Sleightholme was in the mood by this point and, after Ollie Lawrence had been sent to the sin-bin, he wriggled his way through the defence to complete his hat-trick.Bayliss kept Bath in the hunt, but scores for Alex Coles and another for Freeman gave Northampton a comfortable ride to the finish line.