George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Rout Pretoria Bulls

The young winger scored a hat-trick as the Saints made it maximum points from their opening two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try hammering of Pretoria.

Ollie Sleightholme scored two tries and Pollock secured the fourth try inside an hour as a commanding Northampton side cut loose in the latter period.

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

England fly-half Fin Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton went top of their pool on superior points difference from holders Bordeaux-Bègles with both sides on 10 points.

The manner of this victory, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise last week, means last season's runners-up Saints could not have hoped for a better start as they look to improve on that this season.

Pretoria's number ten Kade Wolhuter failed with an early shot at goal before Saints took the lead when Henry Pollock broke before feeding Sleightholme who showed his pace to race clear to the try line.

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

Ten minutes later, Saints had their second try as quick hands from Alex Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith put Hendy over to make it 14-5 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 failed to find touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

That told after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, darting inside to wrong-foot the advancing defence before delivering a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second and Saints' third score.

Bulls prop Alulutho Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. Tshakweni was insistent he had been responding to a trip just prior by the Saints player but the contact from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when looked at by the officials.

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

George Hendy completed his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth try of an outstanding day for Saints in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

The top two teams in the group will face off in a rematch of last year's final when the tournament returns in January as Northampton head to Bordeaux. The Saints then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against Scarlets on 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have one 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)