George Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Saints Rout 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 Pollock secured the fourth try before the hour mark as a commanding Northampton side cut loose in the latter period.

The Bulls were within touching distance with the score 14-5 at the break but a yellow card to prop Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the second half.

England fly-half Fin Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton moved to the summit of their pool on points difference from holders Bordeaux with both sides on 10 points.

The manner of this victory, coming after a 35-27 away win at Section Paloise previously, means last season's runners-up Northampton could not have hoped for a better start as they look to go one better this season.

Bulls fly-half 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 sprint away to the line.

But an mistake from Sleightholme let the Bulls back in as the ball slipped from his grasp in contact, allowing Pretoria winger Stravino Jacobs to kick on and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Saints 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 break.

Northampton were on top in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from the opposition fly-half Kade Wolhuter who twice missed touch with clearing penalties to bring the pressure back on the away side.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Smith was again the architect, stepping inside to wrong-foot the onrushing defense before delivering a perfectly weighted grubber kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second and Saints' third score.

Bulls prop Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Iyogun. Tshakweni was adamant he had been reacting to a trip just prior by the Saints player but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when reviewed by the match officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to clinch the try bonus point through Pollock before Coles and Ollie Sleightholme scored as the home team registered 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 dying moments.

Rerun of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

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

The Bulls, who have a single point from their opening two games, welcome Bristol in their next outing before traveling to 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)