George Hendy Hat-Trick as Eight-Try Northampton Hammer Pretoria Bulls

George Hendy bagged a triple as Northampton secured a perfect ten points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try hammering of Pretoria.

Sleightholme scored two tries and Henry Pollock secured the fourth try before the hour mark as a dominant Northampton side ran riot in the second half.

The visitors were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the break but a yellow card to forward Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved decisive and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes.

International Smith added 10 points from the tee as Northampton moved to the summit of Pool Four on points difference from defending champions Bordeaux with the two teams on 10 points.

The manner of this victory, following a 35-27 away win at Section Paloise last week, means last season's runners-up Saints could not have hoped for a more ideal beginning as they aim to go one better this season.

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter failed with an early shot at goal before Saints took the lead when 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 Pretoria winger Jacobs to kick on and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Northampton had their second as fast passing from Mitchell at the ruck base and then Fin Smith put George Hendy over in the corner to make it 14-5 at the half-time whistle.

Saints were on top in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from the opposition fly-half Kade 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 deceive the onrushing defense before delivering a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for George Hendy to collect his second and Saints' third score.

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

Saints seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to clinch the try bonus point through Henry Pollock before Coles and Ollie Sleightholme scored as the home team registered three tries in five frantic minutes.

George Hendy completed his hat-trick with 12 minutes remaining and Josh Kemeny walked over for the eighth try of an excellent day for Saints in the dying moments.

Rerun of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The top two teams in the group meet in a rerun of the previous season's final when the tournament returns in January as Saints head to Bordeaux-Bègles. The Saints then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against Scarlets on 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have a single point from two matches, welcome 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)