The game had great drama throughout, despite Bath being reduced to 14 players when Beno Obano was red-carded for a high tackle midway through the first half.
It was the same with the season as a whole, with only 10 league points separating Northampton and Bath, who finished first and second in the table on 60 points, from Exeter, who finished seventh on 50.
This season you would expect Northampton and Bath to pick up where they left off - with the Saints looking to retain the title, and Bath looking to go one better by supplanting them at the top.
Northampton topped the Premiership for most of last season, and they deserved to win it, with Courtney Lawes going out in style before moving to France to join Brive.
The Saints have such an exciting back line; Tommy Freeman is a class act, and the combination of him and George Furbank has helped to transform the England backline. I was also impressed by the way Ollie Sleightholme took his chance in New Zealand over the summer to force his way into England contention on the wing.
I'm looking forward to this season, and because I'm a Bathonian I watched a lot of Bath last season, mainly because they were worth watching - and it was the same across the board in the Premiership.
Bath's resurgence started at the end of the 2023 season, and continued strongly last campaign to put them in with a title shot. Finn Russell will be wanting to make Bath's attack even more incisive, and out wide Will Muir was brilliant last season. The fans love him, and with Joe Cokanasiga also having one of his best seasons at The Rec, they are in good shape on the wings. Johann van Graan also did well to rotate his front five but keep the pack competitive, and he looked after the squad as a whole, with no-one over-used.
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Denne historien er fra September 22, 2024-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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