English Premiership Rugby is experiencing an extraordinary surge in scoring, with Northampton Saints’ 71-48 victory over Bath providing another striking example of the competition’s increasingly attack-minded approach.
The 119-point thriller featured 18 tries and produced the second-highest aggregate score in English top-flight rugby history. Only Northampton’s 94-33 victory over Bristol in May, which produced 127 points, has yielded more.
The result also underlined a wider trend. Five of the 10 matches in Premiership history to have produced more than 100 points have taken place since the start of the 2023-24 season.
Ten seasons ago, Northampton hosted Bath in the third round of the competition and won 24-6 to end their opponents’ unbeaten start. That match produced four tries, with Courtney Lawes, George North and David Ribbans, who scored twice, crossing for Saints. Bath managed only two penalties from Rhys Priestland.
The contrast with this weekend’s encounter illustrates how dramatically the game has changed.
Across six matches in the corresponding round in 2017, teams scored 26 tries, an average of 4.33 per game. This weekend, 50 tries were scored in five matches, averaging 10 per game.
The opening two rounds of the current season had already produced an average of 9.3 tries per game, the highest-scoring start to an English top-flight campaign since Opta began recording the statistic in 2007-08.
Is the game becoming too attacking?
Northampton head coach Sam Vesty believes the laws of the game, officiating and the approaches adopted by teams have contributed to the scoring increase.
Vesty, whose coaching speciality is attack, said after the victory over Bath that the game risked becoming too heavily tilted towards attacking play.
“The game can be too slanted to attack. I don’t want to watch basketball, but we saw some fantastic rugby on both sides,” he said.
He identified stricter enforcement of the offside line, lower tackle heights and the speed of play as factors helping teams keep possession and sustain attacking pressure.
“The offside line is being reffed hotter; tackle height is lower, so therefore people can keep the ball alive more quickly. Then there is the speed of the game – the ball is on a little longer so people are more fatigued,” he said.
Vesty also pointed to a change in team mentality, with more sides prioritising scoring points.
The scoring trend could have implications for England’s international players as they prepare for the autumn Test matches. Former England head coach Eddie Jones has previously questioned how effectively the Premiership prepares players for the demands of international rugby, where points are generally harder to come by.
Saracens bring defence back into focus
While attacking rugby has dominated the headlines, Saracens are attempting to make defence a defining feature of their campaign.
Defence coach Adam Powell set out to challenge the competition’s attacking emphasis and restore the defensive identity that helped the club establish itself among England’s leading sides during the previous decade.
Saracens have made an encouraging start. Only Gloucester had conceded fewer points at the time of the report, while their 30-7 victory over previously unbeaten Bristol provided a notable defensive statement.
New signing George Martin partnered Olamide Sodeke in the second row, while Maro Itoje impressed at blind-side flanker after his summer break. Owen Farrell also guided the team effectively from fly-half.
However, the artificial surface at Saracens’ StoneX Stadium remains a concern for visiting teams.
Bristol rested Pedro Rubiolo, AJ MacGinty and Steven Luatua amid concerns about the demands of playing on the surface. Other clubs have also been cautious about selecting players with particular injury histories for matches on artificial pitches.
With Newcastle’s pitch relaid over the summer and Gloucester’s surface installed in 2021, Saracens have one of the oldest artificial pitches in the competition.
England’s next generation of scrum-halves
The development of young scrum-halves is another storyline emerging from the opening rounds.
Northampton’s Archie McParland, 21, started the first two matches of the season before taking a place on the bench against Bath. He returned for the final 20 minutes after missing the opportunity to tour with England during the summer because of a leg injury sustained in the Premiership final against Exeter.
At Saracens, 22-year-old Charlie Bracken made his first start of the season against Bristol, playing 40 minutes and providing quick service from scrum-half.
Both face competition for regular playing time from established British and Irish Lions players. Alex Mitchell is at Northampton, while Tomos Williams plays for Saracens.
How the clubs manage their scrum-half resources could shape the opportunities available to the next generation of England players. Lucas Friday, 20, may also benefit from a clearer route into the first team at Harlequins after signing a new contract.
A more competitive Premiership campaign?
The latest round also offered early evidence of a competitive season, with three of the five matches decided by seven points or fewer and no unbeaten team remaining in the league.
Sale’s 28-24 victory over Harlequins added to the uncertainty, as the Sharks continue to develop new combinations and a more expansive playing style.
Several clubs could challenge for the play-offs if their early-season performances develop into consistent form.
The introduction of a salary floor alongside the salary cap has also added another dimension to the campaign, with the competition appearing more closely contested than last season.
Although the season remains in its early stages, the combination of high-scoring matches, narrow results and renewed emphasis on defence has created several storylines to follow.
For now, Northampton’s remarkable win over Bath stands as one of the clearest illustrations of the Premiership’s scoring surge, and the debate over how to balance attacking ambition with defensive resilience.
