Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Saints Demolish Bulls

George Hendy scored a hat-trick as the Saints secured maximum points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of Pretoria.

Sleightholme crossed twice and Pollock secured the fourth try inside an hour as a dominant Saints team cut loose in the latter period.

The Bulls were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the break 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 second half.

England fly-half Smith added 10 points from the tee as Northampton went top of their pool on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

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

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before Saints took the lead when Pollock made a break before passing to Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to race clear to the line.

But an error from the winger let the Bulls back in as the ball was knocked on in contact, allowing Pretoria winger Stravino Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Saints had their second as quick hands from Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Smith put Hendy over to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle.

Saints were on top in both ball and field position and were being aided from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, darting inside to wrong-foot the onrushing defense before delivering a sweet left-footed kick over the line for George Hendy to grab his second try and Northampton's third.

Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. Tshakweni was adamant he had been reacting to a trip just prior by Iyogun but the contact from the Northampton substitute was ruled unintentional when reviewed by the officials.

Saints seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to clinch the try bonus point through Henry Pollock before Coles and Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three scores in five minutes.

George Hendy completed his triple with 12 minutes remaining and Kemeny walked over for the eighth try of an excellent afternoon for Northampton in the final minute.

Rerun of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

The top two teams in the group meet in a rerun of the previous season's final when the tournament resumes in January as Saints travel to Bordeaux. Northampton then round off the pool stage with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on January 18th.

The Bulls, who have a single point from two matches, host Bristol Bears next before an away trip face 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)