Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Demolish Bulls

The young winger bagged a triple as Northampton made it maximum points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls.

Sleightholme scored two tries and Henry Pollock secured the fourth try inside an hour as a dominant Saints team cut loose in the second half.

The visitors were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the interval but a sin-binning to prop Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the second half.

International Smith added 10 points with the boot as Northampton went top of their pool on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with both sides on 10 points.

The nature 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 this season.

Pretoria's number ten Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before the hosts took the lead when Pollock made a break before passing to Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to sprint away to the try line.

But an error 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 score after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Northampton had their second as fast passing from Alex Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Smith put Hendy over to make it 14-5 at the break.

Saints were on top in possession and territory and were being aided from the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who failed to find touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to deceive the onrushing defense before delivering a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second and Saints' third.

Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been reacting to a trip just prior by Iyogun but the incident from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when looked at by the match officials.

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

George Hendy completed his hat-trick with 12 minutes remaining and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth try of an outstanding day for Saints in the dying moments.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Awaits Saints

The top two teams in the group meet in a rematch of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in the new year as Saints head to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then conclude the group phase with a fixture at home against Scarlets on January 18th.

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