George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Saints Demolish Bulls

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

Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock secured the fourth try inside an hour as a dominant Northampton side ran riot in the second half.

The visitors were within touching distance with the score 14-5 at the interval but a yellow card to forward Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved decisive and they failed to register a point in the second half.

England fly-half Smith contributed 10 points with the boot as Northampton went top of Pool Four on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

The manner of this victory, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise previously, means last season's runners-up Northampton could not have asked for a more ideal beginning as they aim to go one better this season.

Pretoria's number ten Kade Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before Saints opened the scoring when Pollock broke before feeding Ollie Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to race clear to the line.

But an error from Sleightholme allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball slipped from his grasp in contact, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Northampton 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 the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to deceive the advancing defence before sending a sweet left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second and Saints' third.

Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. Tshakweni was adamant he had been reacting to a trip just prior 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 extra man to clinch the try bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Sleightholme scored as the hosts notched three tries in five minutes.

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

Rerun of Last Season's Final Awaits Saints

The top two teams in the pool will face off in a rerun of the previous season'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 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have a single point from two matches, welcome 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)