George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Hammer 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 scored two tries and Henry Pollock secured the bonus point try inside an hour as a dominant Northampton side ran riot in the second half.

The Bulls were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the break but a yellow card to prop Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved decisive and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes.

England fly-half Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton moved to the summit of Pool Four on points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

The manner of this win, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Pau last week, means last year's losing finalists Northampton could not have asked for a better start as they aim to improve on that in this campaign.

Pretoria's number ten Kade Wolhuter missed an early penalty before the hosts opened the scoring when Henry Pollock made a break before feeding Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to race clear to the line.

But an error from the winger allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball slipped from his grasp in contact, allowing Bulls wing Stravino Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Northampton had their second as fast passing from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith put Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the break.

Saints were on top in possession and territory and were being aided from the opposition fly-half Kade Wolhuter who failed to find 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 advancing defence before delivering a sweet left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second and Northampton's third.

Pretoria forward Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense 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 unintentional when looked at by the officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to secure the try bonus point through Henry Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three tries in five frantic minutes.

Hendy wrapped up his triple with 12 minutes remaining and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth try of an excellent afternoon for Saints in the dying moments.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Awaits Saints

The top two teams in the group will face off in a rematch of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in January as Northampton head to Bordeaux-Bègles. Northampton then round off the group phase with a fixture at home against Scarlets on 18 January.

The Bulls, who have a single point from two matches, host Bristol 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)