George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Demolish Bulls

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

Ollie Sleightholme scored two tries and Pollock scored the fourth try inside an hour as a dominant Northampton side cut loose in the second half.

The visitors were within touching distance with the score 14-5 at the break but a yellow card to prop Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved decisive and they did not score a point in the final forty minutes.

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

The manner of this win, following a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise last week, means last year's losing finalists Northampton could not have hoped for a better start as they look to improve on that this season.

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter failed with an early shot at goal before Saints opened the scoring when Pollock broke before feeding Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to sprint away to the try line.

But an mistake from the winger allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball slipped from his grasp in contact, allowing Pretoria winger 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 Fin Smith sent Hendy over to make it fourteen to five at the break.

Northampton 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 Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to deceive the onrushing defense before sending a perfectly weighted grubber kick over the line for George Hendy to collect his second try and Northampton's third.

Bulls prop Alulutho Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a trip on Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by the Saints player but the incident from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when looked at by the match officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the extra man to secure the bonus point through Pollock before Coles and Sleightholme scored as the home team notched three tries in five frantic minutes.

George Hendy completed his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent afternoon for Saints in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the pool meet in a rerun of the previous season's final when the tournament resumes in January as Northampton travel to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have one point from two matches, host Bristol Bears in their next outing before traveling to 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)