Northampton have waited a long time for a momentous day like this. Their last Premiership title was secured in 2014 and they desperately wanted to send off their departing club legend Courtney Lawes in style. Mixed in with the post-match euphoria, though, was a sizeable dollop of relief that one of the all-time great Twickenham escape acts had narrowly failed to materialise.
The record books will show that a 73rd-minute try from their England scrum-half Alex Mitchell propelled Saints to the promised land but in many ways it was Bath’s performance that defined the final. Playing with 14 men for more than an hour they were still hammering away at Northampton’s defence in the closing moments and came close to nicking a truly remarkable result.
