It was a big match for David McHugh, in his first refereeing outing since being attacked by a spectator in Durban. It was no small one, either, for Danny Grewcock, whose suspension is on hold. A significant one, too, for Mark Connors, the Australian forward whose move to Bath was mysteriously aborted - resulting in his arrival at Northampton.
All three did manage to come together late in the first half. Connors, in possession, was driven back by Grewcock, causing Northampton to infringe. The Irish referee gave Bath their first chance of points, which they took - but for them that was it.
McHugh was strong. Mike Tindall was sent to the sin-bin in the second half for deliberately knocking forward - with a slap at the ball - an opposition pass. But Bath were long since beaten with or without tolerant refereeing. They were obliterated by a bravura Saints performance in the first half.
The home forwards had easy dominance of the lineout, were solid at the scrum, and their backs had clearly learnt the art of close support and the short pass to the man coming at speed. John Leslie was always creative, Oriol Ripol had another dangerous and eye-catching game on the wing, and Matt Dawson produced one of his most dynamic games for his club.
The visitors were soon torn apart. A half-break by John Leslie left the ball for Dawson, who scampered 20 yards and in turn found Budge Pountney in support. From the ruck, the ball was transferred far to the right with commendable speed and the crowd's new favourite, Ripol, crossed unopposed.
No one could blame the Bath defence for that, but they weren't so blameless a little later when Nick Beal, appearing in the centre, hesitated between passing outwards and turning inwards - and the defence hesitated too, giving him room. He stepped in, broke clear and put in Peter Jorgensen for the second try.
A third came when Dawson had a stab close to a ruck and handed a backward flip on his inside. It looked speculative, but he surely knew that Jorgensen was there, and the centre shot over between the posts.
An Ollie Barkley penalty from near halfway was well struck, to open Bath's account, but they went in 19-3 down at the interval, looking short of the ball and short of answers to Northampton's high-speed game.
With the scoreboard slow to change after the interval, and with Northampton obliged to spend the third quarter in their own half, the suspicion arose that they had relaxed. But perhaps they had simply been challenged by Bath to raise their game.
Fly-half Chris Malone, with acceleration greater than his opposite number, threatened the line and a twin drive by the back-row men Nathan Thomas and Dan Lyle came even closer. Yet there wasn't quite the same composure and an eye for the deadly pass out of the tackle with which the Saints had illuminated the first half.
Just when it seemed the second half would remain scoreless, Dawson set up the fourth try that ensured a bonus point, and second place in the Premiership. Not too surprisingly, it started with a tap penalty and when the scrum-half got the ball again after a drive to the line, he fed Cohen on the short side and the England wing went over.
Northampton: Beal; Ripol, Jorgensen, Leslie (capt), Cohen; Grayson, Dawson; Smith, Thompson (Richmond 65), Stewart (Morris 55), Phillips, Connors, Blowers, Pountney (Hunter 75), Seely (Soden 59, Stewart 74).
Tries: Ripol, Jorgensen (2), Cohen. Cons: Grayson (2).
Bath: Barkley; Danelli, Crockett, Tindall (Thirlby 77), Voyce; Malone, Cooper (Blake 53); Emms (Barnes 40), Humphreys (Mears 62), Galasso (Mallett 59), Beattie (Lloyd 65), Grewcock, G Thomas (Scaysbrook 50), Lyle, N Thomas.
Pen: Barkley.
Referee: D McHugh (Ireland).
att: 9,560 :
