Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Rout Bulls

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

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

The visitors were within touching distance with the score fourteen-five at the interval but a yellow card to forward Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless 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 Saints went top of their pool on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with both sides on 10 points.

The nature of this victory, following a 35-27 away win at Pau 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.

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before the hosts opened the scoring when Henry Pollock broke before passing to Ollie Sleightholme who showed his pace to sprint away to the try line.

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

Ten minutes later, Saints had their second as fast passing from Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Fin Smith sent George Hendy over to make it 14-5 at the half-time whistle.

Northampton were on top in both ball and field position and were being aided from the opposition fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with penalty kicks to reinvite pressure onto the visitors.

That told after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the architect, stepping inside to deceive the advancing defence before sending a perfectly weighted grubber kick over the line for Hendy to collect his second and Saints' third.

Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Iyogun. Tshakweni 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 match officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to clinch the bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the hosts registered three scores in five minutes.

Hendy completed his hat-trick with 12 minutes remaining and Josh Kemeny strolled in for the eighth and final try of an outstanding day for Saints in the dying moments.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Awaits Saints

The leading pair in the pool will face off in a rerun of last year's final when the tournament returns in January as Northampton head to Bordeaux. The Saints then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against Scarlets on January 18th.

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