Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Hammer Pretoria Bulls

The young winger scored a hat-trick as the Saints secured a perfect ten points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls.

Sleightholme scored two tries and Henry Pollock scored the fourth try inside an hour as a dominant Saints team cut loose in the second half.

The Bulls were within touching distance 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 contributed 10 points from the tee as Saints moved to the summit of Pool Four on points difference from holders Bordeaux with the two teams on 10 points.

The nature of this win, coming after a 35-27 away win at Pau previously, means last season's runners-up Northampton could not have hoped for a more ideal beginning as they aim to go one better in this campaign.

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before the hosts took the lead when Henry Pollock broke before feeding Sleightholme who showed his pace to race clear to the line.

But an error from the winger allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball was knocked on in the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Northampton had their second as fast passing from Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Smith put George Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle.

Northampton were dominant in possession and territory and were being given a helping hand from the opposition fly-half Kade Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

That told after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to deceive the onrushing defense before delivering a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for George Hendy to grab his second try and Saints' third.

Bulls prop Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the incident from the Northampton substitute was ruled unintentional when looked at by the match officials.

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

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 Season's Final Awaits Saints

The leading pair in the group will face off in a rematch of the previous season's final when the tournament resumes in January as Saints head to Bordeaux-Bègles. Northampton then conclude the group phase with a home game against Scarlets on 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have one point from two matches, host Bristol in their next outing 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)