Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Demolish Pretoria Bulls

George Hendy scored a hat-trick as Northampton made it maximum points from their opening two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try hammering of the Bulls.

Sleightholme crossed twice and Pollock scored the bonus point try inside an hour as a commanding Northampton side ran riot in the latter period.

The Bulls were within touching distance with the score fourteen-five at the break but a yellow card to prop Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the second half.

England fly-half Smith contributed 10 points with the boot as Northampton moved to the summit of their pool on superior points difference from holders Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

The manner of this victory, coming after a 35-27 away win at Section Paloise previously, means last year's losing finalists Northampton could not have hoped for a more ideal beginning as they look to improve on that in this campaign.

Pretoria's number ten Wolhuter failed with an early shot at goal before the hosts opened the scoring when Henry Pollock broke before feeding Ollie Sleightholme who showed his pace to race clear to the line.

But an mistake from the winger let the Bulls back in as the ball slipped from his grasp in the tackle, allowing Pretoria winger Jacobs to kick on and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Saints had their second try as fast passing from Alex Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith put George Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle.

Saints were on top in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who failed to find touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Smith was again the creator, darting inside to deceive the onrushing defense before delivering a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second try and Saints' third.

Bulls prop Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by the Saints player but the incident from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when looked at by the officials.

Saints seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to secure the try bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Sleightholme scored as the hosts registered three tries in five minutes.

George Hendy completed his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent day for Saints in the final minute.

Rerun of Last Year's Final Awaits Saints

The top two teams in the pool meet in a rerun of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in January as Saints travel to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then conclude the group phase with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on January 18th.

The Bulls, who have a single point from their opening two games, host Bristol next before an away trip Pau.

Line-ups

Northampton: Furbank; Sleightholme, Hutchinson, Dingwall, Hendy; F Smith, Mitchell; Fischetti, Wright, Davison, Coles, Van der Mescht, Kemeny, Pearson, Pollock

Replacements: R Smith, Iyogun, Kundiona, Munga, Prowse, Graham, James, Thame

Bulls: Williams; Petersen, Gans, Vorster, Jacobs; Wolhuter, Burger; Tshakweni, Van der Merwe, Smith, Wiese, Van Heerden, Coetzee, Ludwig, Louw

Replacements: Else, Sithole, Mchunu, Gumede, Carr, Papier, Johannes, Van Niekerk

Yellow card: Tshakweni (53)

Match Officials

Referee: Hollie Davidson (Sco)

Assistant referees: Rob McDowell (Sco) and Dave Sutherland (Sco)

TMO: Mike Adamson (Sco)