George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Hammer Pretoria Bulls

George Hendy bagged a triple as the Saints secured maximum points from their opening two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls.

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

The Bulls were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the break but a yellow card to forward Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes.

England fly-half Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton moved to the summit of Pool Four on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with both sides on 10 points.

The nature of this victory, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Pau previously, means last season's runners-up Northampton could not have hoped for a more ideal beginning as they look to go one better in this campaign.

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter missed an early penalty before Saints opened the scoring when Pollock made a break before passing to Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to sprint away to the try line.

But an mistake from Sleightholme allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball slipped from his grasp in contact, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to kick on and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Saints had their second as quick hands from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith sent Hendy over in the corner to make it 14-5 at the break.

Northampton were dominant in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Smith was again the architect, darting inside to wrong-foot the onrushing defense before sending a perfectly weighted grubber kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second try and Northampton's third.

Pretoria forward Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. Tshakweni was insistent he had been reacting to a trip just prior by the Saints player but the incident from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when looked at by the match officials.

Saints seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to secure the bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three tries in five minutes.

Hendy wrapped up his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth try of an excellent afternoon for Saints in the dying moments.

Rerun of Last Season's Final Awaits Saints

The top two teams in the group meet in a rerun of last year's final when the Investec Champions Cup resumes in January as Saints travel to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then round off the pool stage with a home game against Scarlets on January 18th.

The Bulls, who have one point from their opening two games, host Bristol Bears in their next outing 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)