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.

Sleightholme scored two tries and Pollock secured the bonus point try inside an hour as a dominant Northampton side ran riot in the second half.

The visitors were within touching distance with the score fourteen-five at the break but a sin-binning 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 Fin Smith added 10 points from the tee as Saints moved to the summit of Pool Four on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

The nature of this win, following a 35-27 victory on the road at Pau previously, means last year's losing finalists Northampton could not have asked for a better start as they look to go one better this season.

Pretoria's number ten Kade Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before the hosts opened the scoring when Henry Pollock broke before feeding Sleightholme who showed his pace to sprint away to the line.

But an error from the winger let the Bulls back in as the ball was knocked on in the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Stravino Jacobs to kick on and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Northampton had their second try as quick hands from Alex Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Smith sent Hendy over to make it fourteen to five at the break.

Saints were on top in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the visitors.

That told after 48 minutes when Smith was again the architect, darting inside to deceive the onrushing defense before delivering a perfectly weighted grubber kick over the line for George Hendy to grab his second and Saints' third.

Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the incident from the Northampton substitute was ruled unintentional when reviewed by the match officials.

Saints seized the opportunity of having the extra man to secure the try bonus point through Henry Pollock before Coles and Sleightholme crossed as the hosts notched three scores in five minutes.

George Hendy completed his triple with 12 minutes remaining and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth try of an excellent day for Northampton in the dying moments.

Rematch of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the group meet in a rerun of last year's final when the Investec Champions Cup resumes in January as Northampton travel to Bordeaux. The Saints then conclude the group phase with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on 18 January.

The Bulls, who have a single point from their opening two games, host Bristol Bears in their next outing before an away trip 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)