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

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

Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock secured the bonus point try before the hour mark as a dominant Northampton side ran riot in the second half.

The visitors were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the break but a yellow card to prop Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved decisive and they did not score a point in the second half.

England fly-half Smith added 10 points with the boot as Northampton went top of their pool 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 away win at Section Paloise last week, means last year's losing finalists Saints could not have hoped for a more ideal beginning as they aim to go one better this season.

Pretoria's number ten Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before the hosts took the lead when Henry Pollock made a break before passing to Ollie Sleightholme who showed his pace to sprint away to the try line.

But an mistake from Sleightholme let the Bulls back in as the ball was knocked on 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 as quick hands from Alex Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Smith put George Hendy over 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 failed to find touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the away side.

That told after 48 minutes when Smith was again the architect, darting inside to wrong-foot the onrushing defense before sending a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second and Saints' third score.

Bulls prop Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been responding to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the contact from the Northampton substitute was ruled unintentional when looked at by the match officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the extra man to clinch the bonus point through Henry Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme scored as the hosts registered three scores in five minutes.

George Hendy completed his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent afternoon for Saints in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the group meet in a rematch of last year's final when the Investec Champions Cup resumes in January as Saints travel to Bordeaux-Bègles. Northampton 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 Bears in their next outing before traveling to 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)