Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Northampton Rout Pretoria Bulls

George Hendy scored a hat-trick as the Saints secured maximum points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of Pretoria.

Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock scored the fourth try before the hour mark as a commanding Northampton side cut loose in the second half.

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

England fly-half Smith added 10 points with the boot as Northampton went top of their pool on points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

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

Bulls fly-half Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before the hosts took the lead when Henry Pollock broke before passing to Sleightholme who showed his pace to race clear to the line.

But an mistake from Sleightholme let the Bulls back in as the ball was knocked on in the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show blistering pace of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Northampton had their second as fast passing from Alex Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith sent George Hendy over to make it 14-5 at the break.

Northampton were on top in both ball and field position and were being aided from the opposition fly-half Kade Wolhuter who failed to find touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to deceive the onrushing defense before delivering a sweet grubber kick over the line for George Hendy to grab his second and Saints' third score.

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

Saints seized the opportunity of having the extra man to clinch the bonus point through Pollock before Coles and Sleightholme crossed as the hosts registered three tries in five frantic minutes.

George Hendy wrapped up his triple with 12 minutes remaining and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth try of an excellent day for Northampton in the dying moments.

Rematch of Last Season's Final Awaits Saints

The leading pair in the pool meet in a rerun of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in January as Saints head to Bordeaux. The Saints then round off the pool stage with a fixture at home against Scarlets on January 18th.

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