Sports · Other Sports · 3 hrs ago
Record-breaking try totals highlight a high-scoring start to the Prem season
Northampton beat Bath 71-48 in the English Premiership this weekend, with the teams scoring 18 tries between them.
The 119 points were the second-highest total in a match in English top-flight rugby history.
High scores have become more common: five of the league’s 10 matches with more than 100 points have taken place since the 2023-24 season began.
Northampton coach Sam Vesty said refereeing, faster play and teams’ greater willingness to attack may be contributing to the trend.
He also warned that the game can become too focused on attack.
The scoring may make the transition to international rugby harder for England players, where points are usually more difficult to earn.
Saracens, meanwhile, beat Bristol 30-7 after setting out to make defence a defining feature of their team.
The opening rounds of the Prem season have produced the highest try-scoring start to an English top-flight campaign since Opta began tracking the statistic in 2007-08.
This weekend, teams scored 50 tries across five matches, an average of 10 per game.
That was up from an average of 9.3 tries per game across the first two rounds.
Northampton beat Bath 71-48, with the teams scoring 18 tries between them.
Northampton head coach Sam Vesty said the game could become too focused on attack, while praising the rugby on show.
- Who
- Prem teams, including Northampton and Bath, scored heavily in the season’s opening rounds.
- What
- The season has had the highest-scoring start by tries in the English top flight since Opta began tracking the statistic.
- When
- The opening rounds of the 2026-27 season; the latest figures are from this weekend.
- Where
- The English top-flight rugby union competition, the Prem.
- Why
- Vesty cited officiating, lower tackle height, game speed and teams’ intent to score as factors behind the scoring spike.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The game can be too slanted to attack
I don't want to watch basketball, but we saw some fantastic rugby on both sides.
The offside line is being reffed hotter; tackle height is lower so therefore people can keep the ball alive more quickly.
The Prem recorded an average of 9.3 tries per game, the highest-scoring start to a campaign since Opta began tracking the statistic in 2007-08.
Teams scored 50 tries across five matches, averaging 10 per game.
Northampton beat Bath 71-48 in a match featuring 18 tries.
- Tries this weekend
- 50 across five games
- Average this weekend
- 10 tries per game
- Average in first two rounds
- 9.3 tries per game
- Northampton v Bath
- Northampton won 71-48
- Tries in Northampton v Bath
- 18
Sources
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