Saints, Bath cruise as Prem Rugby season opens with dominant wins — SkimNews
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- Northampton Saints thrashed Newcastle Red Bulls 59-26 in the season opener, with Tommy Freeman and James Pater each scoring hat-tricks and Fin Smith kicking five conversions.
- Bath launched their title challenge with a 33-17 win at The Stoop, going 28-10 up by halftime and capitalizing on Harlequins' missing England contingent.
- Santi Carreras scored a 'wonder try' for Bath, intercepting his own mid-air kick-pass intended for Cadan Murley before outrunning defenders from just outside his own 22.
- Henry Pollock appeared for Northampton sporting cornrows on his first appearance since signing his new £400,000-a-year contract — having been valued at £1m by Eddie Hearn during negotiations.
- Christian Wade scored twice for Newcastle to take his Premiership career tally to 95 tries, six behind record holder Chris Ashton.
- Harlequins were without Marcus Smith, Alex Dombrandt, Fin Baxter, and George Furbank through injury, leaving only Murley and Chandler Cunningham-South available from their England players.
Why it matters: The opening-night scorelines send an immediate signal of Northampton's intent to defend their title and Bath's credentials as challengers — but Bath's win came against a Harlequins side missing four England internationals, so the 16-point margin flatters the visitors. Saints' nine-try demolition, by contrast, was against the league's bottom side from last season, setting up a more meaningful test in round two.
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