George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Saints Hammer 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 scored the fourth try inside an hour as a commanding Saints team ran riot in the latter period.

The Bulls were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the break but a sin-binning to prop 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 Fin Smith added 10 points from the tee as Northampton went top of Pool Four on points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with the two teams on 10 points.

The nature of this victory, coming after a 35-27 away win at Section Paloise previously, means last year's losing finalists Northampton 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 penalty before the hosts took the lead when Henry Pollock made a break before passing to Ollie Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed 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 the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to kick on and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Northampton had their second as quick hands from Alex Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith put George Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the break.

Northampton were dominant in possession and territory and were being aided from the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who failed to find touch with clearing penalties to reinvite pressure onto the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to deceive the onrushing defense before sending a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second and Northampton's third score.

Bulls prop Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the incident from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when reviewed by the officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to secure the try bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Sleightholme scored as the hosts notched three tries in five minutes.

Hendy completed his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Josh 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 top two teams in the group will face off in a rerun of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in the new year as Northampton travel 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 in their next outing 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)