Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Northampton Demolish Pretoria Bulls

George Hendy scored a hat-trick as Northampton secured maximum 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 bonus point try before the hour mark as a commanding Northampton side ran riot in the latter period.

The Bulls were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the interval but a yellow card to prop Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved decisive and they did not score a point in the final forty minutes.

England fly-half Fin Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton moved to the summit of Pool Four on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

The manner of this victory, following a 35-27 victory on the road at Pau previously, means last season's runners-up Northampton could not have asked for a better start as they look to improve on that in this campaign.

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

But an error from the winger let the Bulls back in as the ball slipped from his grasp in contact, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Northampton had their second try as fast passing from Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Smith put 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 the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who failed to find touch with clearing penalties to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Smith was again the creator, stepping inside to wrong-foot the advancing defence before delivering a sweet left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second and Saints' third.

Bulls prop Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by Iyogun but the contact from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when reviewed by the officials.

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

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

Rematch of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the group will face off in a rerun of last year's final when the tournament resumes in January as Saints head to Bordeaux. The Saints then round off the pool stage with a fixture at home against the 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 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)