Northampton v Bath predictions and rugby union tips: Saints can wash away sins of the past

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 7.45pm Friday

Best bet

Northampton -7
1pt 10-11 bet365

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Match preview 

Northampton and Bath took their licks in the Premiership last week, conceding a combined total of 110 points, and Saints look best placed to deliver a positive response.

Bristol inflicted Northampton’s heaviest league defeat last Friday, running in nine tries in a 62-8 annihilation at Ashton Gate against a short-handed Saints team. 

Back at Franklin’s Gardens, where the hosts have triumphed in seven out of eight matches, and with Juarno Augustus, Tommy Freeman, Matt Proctor and James Ramm returning to the line-up, there’s a good chance Northampton can bounce back.

With a tough run-in to come and a large chasing pack behind them in the playoff hunt, this is a must-win game for fourth-placed Saints at home to basement boys Bath, who are yet to taste victory in 2023. 

Bath are without several key players, chief among them Sam Underhill and Joe Cokanasiga, and seem unable to get the balance right in games. They had struggled to score points but managed to keep games close before running in three tries at Leicester, only to then lose 48-27.

They will need to be far more disciplined defensively against Northampton, who are the joint-top trycorers in the Premiership and have run in 18 of their 59 tries for the season in their last three home games.

That level of firepower should prove too much to handle for a Bath side who have lost their way and Saints can cover a seven-point line having been handicap winners in their last five home league games. 

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