George Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Northampton Rout Bulls

George Hendy scored a hat-trick as the Saints secured maximum points from their opening two European games with an eight-try hammering of the Bulls.

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

The Bulls were within touching distance with the score 14-5 at the break but a sin-binning to forward Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes.

England fly-half Smith added 10 points with the boot as Saints moved to the summit of their pool on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points.

The nature of this win, following 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 go one better this season.

Bulls fly-half Wolhuter failed with an early shot at goal before the hosts opened the scoring when Pollock made a break before feeding Ollie Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to sprint away to the try line.

But an error from Sleightholme let the Bulls back in as the ball was knocked on in the tackle, allowing Pretoria winger Jacobs to kick on 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 ruck base and then Fin Smith sent Hendy over in the corner to make it 14-5 at the break.

Saints were dominant in possession and territory and were being aided 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 Fin Smith was again the architect, stepping inside to deceive the advancing defence before sending a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second try and Northampton's third score.

Bulls prop Alulutho Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a tripping offense on Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been reacting to a trip just prior by Iyogun but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when looked at by the match officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the extra man to secure the bonus point through Pollock before Coles and Ollie Sleightholme scored as the hosts registered three scores in five minutes.

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

Rerun of Last Season'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 Northampton travel to Bordeaux. The Saints then conclude the pool stage with a home game against Scarlets on January 18th.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have one point from two matches, host Bristol Bears next before an away trip 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)