George Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Saints Demolish Bulls

The young winger scored a hat-trick as the Saints secured maximum points from their opening two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls.

Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Pollock secured the bonus point try before the hour mark as a commanding Saints team ran riot in the latter period.

The visitors were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the break but a sin-binning to forward Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved very costly and they did not score a point in the final forty minutes.

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

The nature of this win, following a 35-27 victory on the road at Pau last week, means last season's runners-up Saints could not have asked for a better start as they look to go one better this season.

Bulls fly-half Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before the hosts took the lead when Henry Pollock broke before feeding Ollie Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to sprint away to the line.

But an error from the winger let the Bulls back in as the ball was knocked on in contact, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Ten minutes later, Northampton had their second as quick hands from Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Smith put George Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle.

Northampton were dominant in possession and territory and were being given a helping hand from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the away side.

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

Pretoria forward Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Iyogun. Tshakweni was adamant he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by the Saints player but the incident from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when reviewed by the match officials.

Northampton capitalized of having the numerical advantage to secure the try bonus point through Henry Pollock before Coles and Sleightholme scored as the hosts registered three scores in five frantic minutes.

George Hendy completed his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent afternoon for Northampton in the dying moments.

Rerun of Last Season's Final Awaits Saints

The leading pair in the pool will face off in a rerun of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in January as Saints head to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then round off the group phase with a home game against Scarlets on 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have one point from their opening two games, host Bristol Bears 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)