Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Rout Pretoria Bulls

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

Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock secured the fourth try inside an hour as a commanding Northampton side cut loose in the second half.

The Bulls were within touching distance with the score 14-5 at the interval but a sin-binning to prop Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the second half.

England fly-half Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Saints moved to the summit of their pool on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with the two teams on 10 points.

The nature of this victory, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Pau previously, means last year's losing finalists Northampton could not have hoped for a more ideal beginning as they aim to go one better this season.

Bulls fly-half Wolhuter missed an early penalty before the hosts took the lead when Pollock made a break before feeding Sleightholme who showed his pace to race clear to the try line.

But an error from the winger let the Bulls back in as the ball slipped from his grasp 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 fast passing from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Smith sent George Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the break.

Northampton were dominant in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who failed to find touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

That told after 48 minutes when Smith was again the architect, darting inside to deceive the onrushing defense before sending a sweet left-footed kick over the line for George Hendy to collect his second and Northampton's third.

Bulls prop Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been reacting to a trip just prior by Iyogun but the incident from the Saints replacement prop was ruled accidental when looked at by the officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to secure the try bonus point through Henry Pollock before Coles and Ollie Sleightholme scored as the home team registered three scores in five frantic minutes.

George Hendy wrapped up his hat-trick with 12 minutes remaining and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent afternoon for Saints in the dying moments.

Rerun of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the pool will face off in a rerun of the previous season's final when the Investec Champions Cup resumes in the new year as Northampton head to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against Scarlets on January 18th.

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