Following Northampton Saints’ 35-34 victory over the Bath in the Gallagher Premiership, here are our five takeaways from the action at Franklin’s Gardens.

The top line

The reigning champions Northampton Saints just got over the line in one of the matches of the season as the hosts took the honours by a single point with the last kick of the game from Player of the Match, Fin Smith.

It was a see-saw game, one of the highest quality in attack, that saw nine tries – Saints with four, courtesy of Josh Kemeny, Fraser Dingwall, James Ramm and George Hendy and Bath responding with five, three of them as they came back in the second half, from Joe Cokanasiga (2) Orlando Bailey, Will Stuart and Max Ojomoh.

For all money it seemed that Johann van Graan’s ‘Bath Bomb’ strategy of a 7-1 bench would pay off, as England’s Charlie Ewels and Sam Underhill inspired a brilliant second half comeback, but it was an irony of the game that Underhill, who did so much to drag Bath back to within touching distance, went off his feet at a ruck to give Smith his shot for goal in the final play of a thriller, brilliantly refereed by Anthony Woodthorpe. It was so harsh on the England flank – it was 29-12 when he strolled onto the pitch to turn things around and his effort deserved so much more.

For Bath they walk away with a winning bonus point but it could have been more but for that final play. However, on balance, Saints ran the game from the start, 19-0 up after 15 minutes, and their grit and heart saw them home.

Half-back duel

For the connoisseurs of half-back rugby, the best two pairs in the Premiership both lit up their teams in attack but, by the shortest of margins, the brilliance of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith for Saints just took the honours, despite a yellow card for the England nine that almost cost his team the match. The coup de grace came at the end when the outstanding Sam Underhill was penalised at ruck-time to allow the Saints flyhalf to kick the points to win at the death.

Mitchell in an England shirt is a done deal when fit but with question marks still hanging over his namesake Marcus, the Saint Smith put in one of his most complete performances in the green black and gold. He made space and tries for all around, including a magnificent chip and chase to send George Hendy over, smashed players twice his size in the tackle and delivered a display to the onlooking Steve Borthwick that might just force the England coach into letting the Saints pair steer England in their opening test in the Six Nations away against Ireland in Dublin.

The way Saints went at nine and ten needed an answer from the Bath pairing, and they too demonstrated their test class, as Finn Russell had some sumptuous touches, notably one 35-metre pass to set up the Orlando Bailey score, and a raking 50/22 in response. Ben Spencer did his claims no harm in a solid rather than spectacular day at the office, but there was in the final analysis it was the Saints pairing that took the honours, only just, in a memorable outing for the reigning champions.

Game in numbers

In a game so close, it would come as no big surprise to see the teams almost level in terms of possession (53% played 47%) and territory (51% played 49%) but it was the red zone efficiency of Saints – seven compared with Bath’s 14) that told two tales; firstly, the efficiency of Saints in attack, but secondly, the superiority in defence of Saints, who recorded an 89% tackle success, compared to 79% from their visitors.

To miss only nine tackles all afternoon was credit to the Saints defensive work and Josh Kemeny and Tom Pearson were immense in closing down Bath in the forwards, with Smith and Fraser Dingwall delivering an outstanding shift apiece in the backline.

A word too for Bath’s Alfie Barbeary, the outstanding player in terms of his 15 carries that yielded a massive 141 metres – the back-row was immense, going deep into the match to make a point to those who believe he’s only a 50-minute player, as both he and Saints’ Josh Kemeny had memorable days both sides of the ball.

Injury woes

The Rec Squad, the Bath Bomb – call it what you will – but Johann van Graan put his faith in a 7-1 split, something not seen before in the Premiership.

However, taking a chance of the ilk is also having a punt on fitness and the resilience of your players and to Bath’s dismay they lost a flanker, Guy Pepper, after nine minutes, then the form wing in the Prem, Will Muir, who hobbled off with a hamstring injury after 31. The reshuffle saw Josh Bayliss replace Pepper, then subsequently Underhill replacing Muir, but with Bayliss moving onto the left wing.

With George Hendy, a man surely set for an England call up, going off with what appeared to be a shoulder problem early in the first half, and both Alex Coles and Temo Mayanavanua conspiring to give each other HIAs despite locking the same scrum, the walking wounded for both teams saw the Franklin’s Gardens tunnel resembling a scene from MASH.

With England set to name their first EPS Squad of the season on January 14, there will be anxious waits over Coles and Hendy in particular, but post match progonosis suggested that both Saintsmen should be fit and raring by the time the Six Nations comes along.