Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Saints Rout Bulls

George Hendy bagged a triple as Northampton secured maximum points from their opening two European games with an eight-try hammering of the Bulls.

Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock scored the bonus point try before the hour mark as a dominant Saints team cut loose in the second half.

The Bulls were still in the game with the score fourteen-five at the break but a sin-binning to prop 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 Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton moved to the summit of Pool Four on points difference from holders Bordeaux with the two teams on 10 points.

The manner of this win, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise previously, means last year's losing finalists Saints could not have asked for a better start as they aim to go one better in this campaign.

Bulls fly-half Wolhuter missed an early penalty before Saints took the lead when Henry Pollock broke before feeding Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to race clear to the try line.

But an mistake from Sleightholme let the Bulls back in as the ball was knocked on in contact, allowing Pretoria winger Jacobs to kick on and show blistering pace of his own to score after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Saints had their second try as quick hands from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Fin Smith put Hendy over to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle.

Saints were dominant in both ball and field position and were being aided from the opposition fly-half Kade Wolhuter who failed to find touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the away side.

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

Pretoria forward Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been responding to a trip just prior by Iyogun but the contact from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when looked at by the match officials.

Saints capitalized of having the numerical advantage to clinch the bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team registered three tries in five minutes.

George Hendy wrapped up his triple with 12 minutes remaining and Kemeny walked over for the eighth try of an excellent day for Northampton in the dying moments.

Rerun of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the group will face off in a rematch of last year's final when the tournament resumes in the new year as Saints travel to Bordeaux-Bègles. 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 next 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)