Northampton hit 14 tries to beat Bristol 94-33 and book Premiership semi-final spot
Northampton Saints confirmed their Premiership Rugby semi-final spot with a 94-33 win over Bristol Bears at Franklin's Gardens on Friday night. The 14-try match was recorded as one of the highest-scoring season-closing fixtures in English domestic rugby history.
For Bristol the evening carried a different message. Pat Lam's side has been unable to put together a winning run in the closing weeks of the regular season and finished the campaign falling short of the play-off picture they had been part of in autumn. Bristol Bears had been considered one of four sides in the play-off race at the start of the season.
At Northampton, Fin Smith and George Furbank conducted the attacking line, keeping the team's tempo high even without a kicking foot dominating the night. Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme and Alex Mitchell scored multiple tries. The Saints had reached five tries and a 35-12 half-time lead in the opening 40 minutes.
The second half allowed the lead to grow in line with the pace at which Saints sprung out of the breakdown. From the 50th minute Bristol moved to additional defensive work, but a double from forward Sam Matavesi consolidated the home side's control of the game.
Head coach Phil Dowson said afterwards: 'For us this was about responding to a real test. The score isn't the point; what mattered was how disciplined we were at the end of the season.' Dowson said semi-final preparation work would begin on Sunday at Cobham.
Bristol head coach Pat Lam was more concise. 'We did not deserve that; that was not a team performing, that was a team coming apart,' he said. Lam added that end-of-season decisions would crystallise over the coming weeks, but that the attacking structure would be reviewed.
In record terms, Northampton's 14 tries were the fourth-highest single-match total in the Premiership regular season. The Saints' offensive production, also a feature of the season in which they took the title two years ago, has become a model studied even in the Champions Cup this season.
The play-off picture is taking shape: Northampton are clear at the top of the league standings, with Bath and Saracens occupying the remaining semi-final positions. Premiership Rugby confirmed that the semi-finals will be played next weekend, with the final scheduled for mid-June at Twickenham.
Club chief executive Mark Darbon said after the match: 'The continuity of this squad is something many other clubs aren't getting at the moment. Both the development of young players and the retention of senior ones have defined this season.' Northampton retained most of the squad that took the Premiership title at the end of 2023-24.
Freeman, after his two tries, told reporters: 'We have done the same thing in every match of the season; whether we made a mistake or made a play, we focused on attacking again in the next phase.' That sums up the playing culture the Saints have built. They face Saracens in next week's semi-final, aiming for a return to the Twickenham final.