Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Saints Hammer Pretoria Bulls

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

Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock secured the bonus point try inside an hour as a commanding 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 sin-binning to forward Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved decisive and they failed to register a point in the second half.

International Smith added 10 points from the tee as Saints went top of Pool Four on points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with both sides on 10 points.

The manner of this win, following a 35-27 away win at Section Paloise previously, means last year's losing finalists Saints could not have hoped for a better start as they aim to go one better in this campaign.

Pretoria's number ten Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before Saints opened the scoring when Henry Pollock broke before passing to Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to race clear to the line.

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

Shortly after, Northampton had their second try as fast passing from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith put George Hendy over to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle.

Northampton were on top in possession and territory and were being aided from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with clearing penalties to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

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

Bulls prop Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a trip on Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been responding to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the incident from the Saints replacement prop was ruled accidental when looked at by the officials.

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

George Hendy completed his hat-trick with twelve minutes left on the clock and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth try of an excellent afternoon for Northampton in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Season's Final Awaits Saints

The leading pair in the pool will face off in a rerun of last year's final when the tournament returns in January as Northampton head to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then conclude the group phase with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on January 18th.

The Bulls, who have a single point from their opening two games, welcome Bristol Bears next 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)