Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Rout Bulls

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

Ollie Sleightholme scored two tries and Pollock secured the bonus point try inside an hour as a commanding Northampton side ran riot in the latter period.

The visitors were within touching distance with the score fourteen-five at the break but a sin-binning to forward Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved decisive and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes.

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

The nature of this win, coming after a 35-27 away win at Section Paloise previously, means last season's runners-up Northampton could not have asked for a better start as they look to improve on that in this campaign.

Pretoria's number ten Kade Wolhuter failed with an early shot at goal before the hosts took the lead when Pollock made a break before feeding Sleightholme who showed his pace to sprint away to the line.

But an error from the winger let the Bulls back in as the ball slipped from his grasp in contact, allowing Bulls wing Stravino Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show blistering pace of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

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

Saints were dominant in possession and territory and were being given a helping hand from the opposition fly-half Kade Wolhuter who failed to find touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to deceive the advancing defence before delivering a sweet grubber kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second and Northampton's third.

Pretoria forward Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop 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 reviewed by the match officials.

Saints seized the opportunity of having the extra man to secure the try bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme scored as the home team registered three tries in five frantic minutes.

Hendy completed his triple with 12 minutes remaining and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent afternoon for Saints in the dying moments.

Rerun of Last Year's Final Awaits Saints

The top two teams in the pool will face off in a rematch 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 group phase with a fixture at home against the 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)