Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Saints Hammer Pretoria Bulls

The young winger bagged a triple as the Saints secured maximum points from their opening two European games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls.

Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock secured the fourth try before the hour mark as a dominant Saints team ran riot in the second half.

The Bulls were within touching distance with the score fourteen-five at the break but a sin-binning to prop Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a needless trip proved decisive and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes.

England fly-half Fin Smith added 10 points from the tee as Saints moved to the summit of Pool Four on superior points difference from holders Bordeaux 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 hoped for a more ideal beginning as they look to improve on that this season.

Bulls fly-half Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before Saints took the lead when Pollock made a break 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 score after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Northampton had their second as fast passing from Mitchell at the base of a ruck and then Smith sent Hendy over to make it 14-5 at the half-time whistle.

Northampton were dominant in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who failed to find 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 architect, stepping inside to wrong-foot the onrushing defense before sending a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second and Saints' third.

Bulls prop Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was insistent he had been reacting to a trip just prior by Iyogun but the incident from the Northampton substitute was ruled accidental when reviewed by the officials.

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

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

Rerun of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the group will face off in a rerun of the previous season's final when the Investec Champions Cup returns in January as Saints head to Bordeaux-Bègles. Northampton then round off the pool stage with a fixture at home against Scarlets on January 18th.

The Bulls, who have a single point from two matches, welcome Bristol Bears in their next outing 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)