Saints are champions of England after nerve-shredding win against Bath at Twickenham

Little more than 10 years on from their first and previously only Premiership title triumph, Phil Dowson's men got the job done as George Hendy brilliantly set Mitchell up six minutes from time.

Bath had threatened to provide one of the biggest Premiership final stories in history as they overcame the loss of loosehead prop Beno Obano to a red card after just 20 minutes.

The men in blue and white battled bravely, eventually going 21-18 ahead thanks to a Finn Russell penalty 14 minutes from time.

But Saints, who had really struggled to get anything going after flying into a 15-3 lead during the first half, produced one final piece of brilliance as Hendy weaved his way through the Bath defence and set up Mitchell for the score.

Bath kept fighting until the end but a knock-on with the clock in the red allowed Saints to pouch possession, and Tom James booted the ball out to spark wild scenes of celebration among the black, green and gold supporters.

It was the perfect way for Alex Waller, Alex Moon, Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam to finish their stellar Saints careers as they lifted the Premiership trophy into the Twickenham sky.

Phil Dowson's men had hoped to emulate the 2014 heroes with a final success as they looked to reinforce their table-topping status against the side that had finished second in the standings.

Saints tried to fly out of the blocks but Ollie Sleightholme couldn't take a pass on halfway and Matt Gallagher's eyes lit up as he chased a kick ahead, only to be thwarted by a try-saving tackle from George Furbank.

Bath were winning the early battles and they had the chance to go ahead with a penalty won at the scrum, but Russell missed the kick.

Russell made amends with a much easier effort soon after as Lawes was penalised at the breakdown.

It was all Bath from the off and Saints were struggling to do anything with possession when they got it.

It took a fantastic Tommy Freeman tackle to stop another counter-attack as Bath looked to pounce from every turnover.

The men in blue and white were filling all the gaps and their linespeed was causing huge problems for Saints' attack.

When Saints did get a chance to notch some points, Fin Smith was off target, seeing his penalty rebound off the left post.

But Smith picked up three points in fine fashion soon after as he slotted a drop goal from long range.

There was a huge flashpoint on 20 minutes as Obano's shoulder connected with the head of Juarno Augustus with force.

Referee Christophe Ridley initially missed the incident but after consulting with his TMO, he decided it was worthy of a red card.

Bath took off Alfie Barbeary for prop Juan Schoeman, but Saints made the most of the extra man soon after, delivering a fine try that saw Furbank release Freeman for the score.

Smith added the extras but Bath almost hit back immediately as a lovely kick almost released Gallagher down the left but the ball bounced into touch.

Saints responded well to that scare with Tom Pearson carrying with real ferocity, allowing the black, green and gold to move the ball at speed to the left, where Sleightholme produced some magic, kicking ahead and diving on the ball to score.

Smith missed the tough conversion from wide on the left and Bath showed they were full of fight as a counter-ruck earned them a penalty, which was kicked to the corner.

Bath stayed patient and prop Thomas du Toit powered over, allowing Russell to cut the gap to five points with the successful conversion.

Saints had one more chance to give themselves some breathing space before the break, but they were penalised close to the Bath line and the chance was gone.

The second half started with Saints giving away another penalty, allowing Russell to cut the gap to just two points from the tee.

Saints tried to respond after kicking a penalty to the corner but Burger Odendaal was met with some brutal defence, forcing him to knock on and injuring the centre in the process.

Hendy was sent on to replace him, with Freeman moving to centre.

Bath won a penalty at the next scrum to relieve any pressure and they were the ones who were looking the most threatening when in opposition territory.

A superb crossfield kick caught Hendy out and Will Muir gathered to score.

Russell couldn't land the tricky conversion but the scores were now level and Saints were struggling to get it together.

The black, green and gold couldn't get any momentum in the game and Russell was pulling the strings, producing a 50:22 that gave the Bath fans even more reason to cheer.

While Bath were making few errors, Saints were making a host of them, inviting pressure on themselves time after time.

Bath were hammering Saints at the breakdown, winning decision after decision, meaning the black, green and gold just could not get out of their own half.

Russell put Bath ahead with another penalty as Saints really looked like they were devoid of ideas as to how to deal with the opposition, in both attack and defence.

When Saints did finally get the chance to exert some pressure of their own, they were met with a wall of resistance once more, forcing Alex Coles to knock on inside the 22.

Saints lost Smith to injury as the game continued to unravel.

Saints badly needed a spark from somewhere, and they got it when Hendy weaved his way into Bath territory before setting up Mitchell for a stunning score.

Furbank added the extras to make it 25-21 but Saints couldn't collect the restart and Bath had a scrum.

Saints won a penalty at the scrum but still Bath came, forcing Saints to scramble out wide.

There was one final chance for the men in blue and white to attack out wide, but they couldn't keep hold of the ball and James kicked the ball out to spark wild scenes of celebration among the Saints supporters as they savoured their team being crowned champions of England.

Saints: Furbank; Freeman, Odendaal (Hendy 46), Dingwall, Sleightholme; F Smith (James 70), Mitchell; A Waller (Iyogun 53), Langdon (S Matavesi 58), Davison (Millar Mills 58); Moon (Mayanavanua 70), Coles; Lawes (c), Pearson (Ludlam 60), Augustus (Graham 66).

Bath: Gallagher; Cokanasiga (Reid 78), Lawrence, Redpath (Bailey 79), Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn (Annett 53), du Toit; Roux (Stooke 68), Ewels; Hill (Bayliss 68), Underhill, Barbeary (Schoeman 22 (Stuart 53)).

Referee: Christophe Ridley