Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Northampton Hammer Bulls

George Hendy bagged a triple as the Saints made it maximum points from their opening two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls.

Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock scored the bonus point try inside an hour as a dominant Northampton side ran riot in the latter period.

The visitors were within touching distance with the score fourteen-five at the interval but a sin-binning to forward Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved decisive and they did not score a point in the second half.

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

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

Pretoria's number ten Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before Saints took the lead when Pollock made a break before feeding Sleightholme who showed his pace to sprint away to the try line.

But an error from Sleightholme allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball was knocked on in the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to kick on and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

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

Saints were on top in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with clearing penalties to bring the pressure back on the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to deceive the advancing defence before delivering a sweet grubber kick over the line for George Hendy to collect his second and Saints' third score.

Bulls prop Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been reacting to a trip just prior by the Saints player but the contact from the Northampton substitute was ruled unintentional when reviewed by the match officials.

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

Hendy wrapped up his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth try of an excellent day for Northampton in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

The top two teams in the group will face off in a rerun of last year's final when the tournament resumes in the new year as Saints travel to Bordeaux. The Saints then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against Scarlets on 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have one point from two matches, welcome Bristol Bears in their next outing 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)