Freddie Burns kicked 17 points as Bath claimed a 32-9 Premiership win against Northampton Saints, moving up to third in the process.

Two penalties from Piers Francis opened up a 6-0 lead for Northampton early on, but Burns soon set about overturning that deficit.

Three successful attempts from the tee had Bath in front and the five-eighth was on target again after Matt Banahan pounced on a Saints fumble to touch down just before the interval.

Burns made it 19-6 10 minutes into the second half and Francis's penalty three minutes later proved to be the final impression the visitors would make on the scoreboard.

The final points of Burns's haul came just short of the hour mark, before tries from Nick Auterac and Ross Batty added further gloss.

Burns's first miss of the match came after Auterac's try and he had been replaced by Josh Lewis by the time Batty crossed.

Bath is four points adrift of second-placed Saracens ahead of the weekend's remaining fixtures, while Northampton stays 10th.