George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Saints Rout Pretoria Bulls

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

Sleightholme crossed twice and Pollock secured the bonus point try before the hour mark as a dominant Saints team cut loose 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 decisive and they did not score a point in the final forty minutes.

International Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Saints went top of their pool on superior points difference from holders Bordeaux with both sides on 10 points.

The nature of this victory, following a 35-27 away win at Pau previously, means last year's losing finalists Northampton could not have asked for a more ideal beginning as they look to improve on that this season.

Pretoria's number ten Kade Wolhuter missed an early penalty before the hosts opened the scoring when Henry Pollock made a break before feeding Ollie Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to race clear to the try line.

But an error from the winger allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball was knocked on in the tackle, allowing Pretoria winger Stravino Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show blistering pace of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Saints had their second as fast passing from Alex Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Fin Smith put George Hendy over to make it fourteen to five at the break.

Northampton were dominant in both ball and field position and were being aided from the opposition fly-half Kade Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the away side.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to wrong-foot the onrushing defense before sending a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second try and Northampton's third score.

Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by the Saints player but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled accidental when looked at by the match officials.

Northampton capitalized of having the numerical advantage to clinch the try bonus point through Pollock before Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three tries in five frantic minutes.

Hendy completed his hat-trick with twelve minutes left on the clock and Kemeny walked over for the eighth try of an outstanding day for Northampton in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

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

The Pretoria Bulls, who have one point from their opening two games, welcome 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)