Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Northampton Demolish Pretoria Bulls

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

Ollie Sleightholme scored two tries and Henry Pollock scored the bonus point try inside an hour as a dominant Saints team ran riot in the second half.

The Bulls were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the interval but a yellow card to forward Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved very costly and they did not score a point in the final forty minutes.

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

The manner of this victory, following a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise previously, means last season's runners-up Saints could not have asked for a more ideal beginning as they look to improve on that in this campaign.

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before Saints opened the scoring when Pollock broke before passing to Ollie Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to race clear to the try line.

But an mistake from Sleightholme let the Bulls back in as the ball slipped from his grasp in contact, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to kick on and show blistering pace of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Northampton had their second try as fast passing from Alex Mitchell at the ruck base and then Fin Smith sent Hendy over in the corner to make it 14-5 at the half-time whistle.

Saints were dominant in both ball and field position and were being aided from Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter who failed to find touch with clearing penalties to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

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

Pretoria forward Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. Tshakweni was insistent he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when reviewed by the match officials.

Northampton capitalized of having the numerical advantage to clinch the try bonus point through Henry Pollock before Coles and Sleightholme scored as the hosts notched three scores in five minutes.

Hendy completed his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth and final try of an excellent afternoon for Northampton in the dying moments.

Rematch of Last Season's Final Awaits Saints

The top two teams in the pool will face off in a rematch of last year's final when the Investec Champions Cup returns in January as Saints head to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then conclude the group phase with a home game against the Scarlets on 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have one point from two matches, host Bristol Bears 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)