Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Rout Bulls

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

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

The visitors were within touching distance with the score fourteen-five at the interval but a yellow card to prop Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes.

International Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Saints went top 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 away win at Pau last week, 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 Kade Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before Saints took the lead when Pollock made a break before feeding Ollie Sleightholme who showed his pace to sprint away to the try line.

But an error from Sleightholme let the Bulls back in as the ball slipped from his grasp in the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Northampton had their second as fast passing from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Fin Smith put George Hendy over to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle.

Saints were on top in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter who failed to find touch with clearing penalties to reinvite pressure onto the visitors.

That told after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the architect, darting inside to deceive the advancing defence before delivering a sweet left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second and Saints' third.

Pretoria forward Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Iyogun. Tshakweni was insistent he had been reacting to a trip just prior by the Saints player but the incident from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when looked at by the match officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to secure the try bonus point through Henry Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the hosts registered three tries in five frantic minutes.

George Hendy wrapped up his hat-trick with 12 minutes remaining and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth and final try of an excellent afternoon for Northampton in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The top two teams in the pool meet in a rerun of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in the new year as Saints travel to Bordeaux. The Saints then round off the group phase with a fixture at home against Scarlets on 18 January.

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