George Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Northampton Hammer Bulls

George Hendy bagged a triple as Northampton secured a perfect ten points from their opening two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try hammering of Pretoria.

Ollie Sleightholme scored two tries and Henry Pollock scored the fourth try before the hour mark as a commanding Saints team cut loose in the second half.

The Bulls were still in the game with the score fourteen-five at the break but a sin-binning to forward Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved decisive and they did not score a point in the final forty minutes.

International Smith contributed 10 points with the boot as Saints moved to the summit of Pool Four on points difference from holders Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

The manner of this win, coming after a 35-27 away win at Pau previously, means last year's losing finalists Saints could not have hoped for a better start as they look to improve on that in this campaign.

Pretoria's number ten Wolhuter failed with an early penalty 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 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 hack the ball forward and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Saints had their second try as fast passing from Alex Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Fin Smith put Hendy over in the corner to make it 14-5 at the break.

Saints were dominant 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 told after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, darting inside to wrong-foot the advancing defence before sending a perfectly weighted grubber kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second try and Saints' third.

Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. Tshakweni was insistent he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the incident from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when reviewed by the officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the extra man to clinch the bonus point through Henry Pollock before Coles and Sleightholme scored as the hosts registered three scores in five frantic minutes.

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

Rerun of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

The top two teams in the pool will face off in a rematch of last year's final when the Investec Champions Cup returns in the new year as Northampton head to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then conclude the group phase with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on January 18th.

The Bulls, who have one point from their opening two games, 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)