Brilliant Beal piles pressure on Bath

Northampton 24 Bath 3

For some 49 minutes after scoring the third try of their complete domination of a thrilling match there was an edge of desperation to the Northampton team as they anxiously sought an elusive fourth touchdown for a bonus point.

In the superb arena that has taken Franklin's Gardens into the 21st century, it was not until the 79th minute that Ben Cohen, back on the wing after a couple of very successful sorties at outside-centre, crossed the Bath line after an immense period of pressure by Saints to secure the all-important point.

Initially Bath were clueless as Northampton came at them from all sides. The West Countrymen did not seem to learn that if they kicked deep and long that the Saints would counter-attack, generally through the full-back Nick Beal. He had a hand indirectly or directly with every one of Northampton's tries.

But the Bath game-plan appeared to be: option one, kick; decision two, kick; choice three, kick. They could not match the pace that Northampton possessed inside and out wide, a speed of hand and foot that took the breath away.

Saints also had street smarts and low cunning, as the prop Tom Smith demonstrated when he nutmegged a Bath defender, passing the ball to a Northampton team-mate through the on-rushing Bath man's legs.

Indirectly that little piece of trickery led to Saints' third – and Peter Jorgensen's second – try, which underlined the powerful running of the home team. There was a precision to their every incursion or at least, so it seemed. Each point of attack led to ground being gained. Someone had done his homework.

While Northampton looked sharp, Bath were dullness itself, in idea and execution. When the centre Alex Crockett hoofed the ball directly into touch, the resultant line-out allowed Saints to march into a position from which scrum-half Matt Dawson was able to make a break for the line. Budge Pountney took it up, and Dawson's smart reverse flick into the path of Beal running a cute inside angle opened up the defence and created room for Oriol Ripol, the Spanish international wing, to finish it off.

It was Beal's salesmanship of a dummy, which wiped out three defenders some 17 minutes later, that set up Jorgensen for his first try. If Bath had any answers to this all-running, all-points attacking rugby, then they were keeping them to themselves.

Bath finally began to gel towards the end of the first half and carried that momentum beyond the interval, spending the first 20 minutes in the Saints half, but were still unable to add to Ollie Barkley's first-half penalty.

That third quarter left Bath visibly drained. Little wonder that by the 66th minute they had replaced five forwards, and Saints finally shook off the shackles and broke back. The England centre Mike Tindall's decision deliberately to knock-on Jorgensen's pass outside to Ripol was a foolish moment.

He was sent to the sin-bin and Saints increased the pressure, until they too lost a player temporarily, the replacement prop Robbie Morris thoughtlessly putting his foot in it and ending up having to cool his heels. Bath by then had run out of steam and then came Cohen's coup de grâce which secured Northampton's third win on the trot.

Northampton: N Beal; O Ripol, P Jorgensen, J Leslie (capt), B Cohen; P Grayson, M Dawson; T Smith, S Thompson (D Richmond, 66), M Stewart R Morris, 56), J Phillips (R Hunter, 34-40+2), M Connors, A Blowers (R Hunter, 76), G Seely (M Soden, 60; Stewart for Soden 74), B Pountney.

Bath: O Barkley; S Danielli, A Crockett, M Tindall (R Thirlby, 77), T Voyce; C Malone, G Cooper (R Blake, 54); S Emms (D Barnes, h-t), J Humphreys (L Mears, 63), A Galasso (J Mallett, 60), A Beattie (A Lloyd, 66), D Grewcock (capt), G Thomas (J Scaysbrook, 51), N Thomas, D Lyle.

Referee: D McHugh (Limerick).