Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Saints Demolish Pretoria Bulls

George Hendy bagged a triple as the Saints made it maximum points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try hammering of the Bulls.

Sleightholme scored two tries and Henry Pollock secured the fourth try inside an hour as a commanding Saints team ran riot in the second half.

The Bulls were still in the game with the score fourteen-five at the interval but a yellow card to forward Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved decisive and they did not score a point in the second half.

England fly-half Smith contributed 10 points with the boot as Saints went top of Pool Four on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with both sides on 10 points.

The manner of this win, following a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise previously, means last year's losing finalists Northampton could not have asked for a more ideal beginning as they aim to improve on that in this campaign.

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before the hosts opened the scoring when Pollock made a break before passing to Ollie Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to sprint away to the try line.

But an error from the winger let the Bulls back in as the ball was knocked on in contact, allowing Pretoria winger Stravino 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 try as fast passing from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Fin Smith sent George Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle.

Saints were dominant in possession and territory and were being given a helping hand from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who failed to find touch with clearing penalties 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 onrushing defense before sending a perfectly weighted grubber kick over the line for George Hendy to grab his second try and Saints' third score.

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

Saints capitalized of having the extra man to clinch the try bonus point through Pollock before Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team registered three tries in five minutes.

George Hendy completed his hat-trick with twelve minutes left on the clock and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent day for Saints in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Awaits Saints

The leading pair in the pool will face off in a rerun of last year's final when the tournament resumes in the new year as Saints travel to Bordeaux. The Saints then round off the group phase with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on 18 January.

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