George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Demolish Pretoria Bulls

The young winger bagged a triple as Northampton secured maximum points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of Pretoria.

Ollie Sleightholme scored two tries and Henry Pollock scored the bonus point try inside an hour as a commanding Saints team ran riot in the latter period.

The Bulls 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 unnecessary trip proved decisive and they did not score a point in the second half.

England fly-half Smith added 10 points from the tee as Northampton went top of Pool Four on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with the two teams on 10 points.

The nature of this victory, 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 more ideal beginning as they look to improve on that this season.

Pretoria's number ten Kade Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before Saints took the lead when Pollock made a break before feeding Ollie Sleightholme who showed his pace to race clear to the line.

But an mistake from the winger let the Bulls back in 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 score after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Northampton had their second as fast passing from Alex Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Fin Smith put 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 aided from the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with clearing penalties to reinvite pressure onto the away side.

That told after 48 minutes when Smith was again the creator, darting inside to deceive the onrushing defense before delivering a sweet grubber kick over the line for George Hendy to grab his second try and Northampton's third.

Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a tripping offense on Iyogun. Tshakweni was insistent he had been responding to a trip momentarily before by the Saints player but the contact from the Northampton substitute was ruled unintentional when looked at by the match officials.

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

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

Rerun of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

The top two teams in the pool will face off in a rematch of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in January as Saints travel to Bordeaux. Northampton 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, welcome Bristol next 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)