Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, The second, third and fourth place sides in the Prem all lost to add intrigue to the run-in
BBC Sport rugby union news reporterPublished15 minutes agoCommentsThe emotions at the final whistle at Franklin's Gardens were difficult to read.
Prem leaders Northampton had beaten Bath - the defending champions and their nearest rivals - via a Fin Smith penalty with the clock in the red, but the Saints players, perhaps sapped by the heat and opposition, barely raised an arm in celebration.
By the admission of their own coaching staff, Saints had been lucky to take the win.
Across four matches in all competitions this month, they have conceded an average of more than 37 points. They have also won three of them, but their attack is having to work overti me to keep the victories coming.
Bath, with one eye on their Champions Cup semi-final against Bordeaux-Begles on Saturday, had picked a largely second-string side as superstars like Finn Russell, Ollie Lawrence and Thomas du Toit took the weekend off.
Instead the hugely promising Ciaran Donoghue, playing his first minutes of the season after suffering a knee injury in pre-season, stepped in at 10 seamlessly, flinging passes and fixing the defence with his own running ability.
On the wing, Louis Hennessey, making his fifth Prem start of the season, was excellent, beating defenders and getting his hands free to keep the momentum of attack going.
Miles Reid and Josh Bayliss - two of the visitors' more regular faces - were superb in the back row.
They may have lost the game, but the Bath could arguably take more heart from a match having pushed Saints so hard.
Four months ago, the shoe (army) was on the other foot. Northampton didn't perhaps stray so far from their first-choice line-up then, but a mix-and-match side ran out comfortable winners against a more familiar-looking Bath at the Recreation Ground in the reverse fixture.
Both sides have formidable depth that sets them apart from the rest, with standards staying high as selection chops and changes.
It is the difference that makes it difficult to see anything other than a fourth meeting of the season taking place in the Prem final on 20 June.
Other sides with weaker squads and more salary cap head-room to play with may also be looking to see if they can tempt some of Saints and Bath's fringe figures with the promise of a more central role elsewhere.
Published1 day agoSaracens' superstars and starletsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Caluori leads the Prem try-scoring charts with 18, five more than Northampton's Tommy Freeman
In the early 2000s, Real Madrid had a team-building philosophy they coined 'Zidanes y Pavones'. The theory was to mix top-end imported talent - like France superstar Zinedine Zidane - with homegrown youth, such as local centre-back prospect Francisco Pavon.
Noah Caluori, only 19, is already somewhere between prospect status and the superstar bracket.
His chip-and-chase try in the win over Leicester showed dexterity and cunning, as well as raw speed - the wing scampering over the sideline before leaping back infield to claim the ball, ensuring he had enough lateral momentum to hold off Ollie Hassell-Collins and score.
Twenty-four year-old Olly Hartley, who was picked up from Wasps and whose progress was checked by a bad knee injury in April 2024, danced through for the hosts' first try.
At scrum-half, Charlie Bracken, the 22-year-old son of former England international Kyran, has muscled his way ahead of Ivan van Zyl and is nippy around the fringes.