George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Hammer Bulls

The young winger bagged a triple as Northampton made it a perfect ten points from their first two European games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls.

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

The Bulls were still in the game with the score 14-5 at the break but a yellow card 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 Smith added 10 points from the tee as Northampton went top of their pool on superior points difference from defending champions Bordeaux-Bègles with both sides on 10 points.

The nature of this win, following a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise last week, means last year's losing finalists Northampton could not have asked for a better start as they look to go one better in this campaign.

Bulls fly-half Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before Saints took the lead when Henry Pollock made a break before feeding Sleightholme who showed his pace to race clear to the line.

But an error from Sleightholme allowed the Bulls back into the game as the ball was knocked on in the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Stravino Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show electric speed of his own to reply after 22 minutes.

Shortly after, Northampton had their second try as fast passing from Alex Mitchell at the ruck base and then Fin Smith sent Hendy over to make it fourteen to five at the break.

Saints were on top in possession and territory 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 visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the creator, darting inside to wrong-foot the advancing defence before sending a sweet grubber kick over the line for George Hendy to grab his second and Northampton's third.

Pretoria forward Alulutho 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 the Saints player but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled accidental when reviewed by the match officials.

Northampton seized the opportunity of having the numerical advantage to secure the bonus point through Henry Pollock before Coles and Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three scores in five minutes.

George Hendy completed his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth try of an excellent day for Northampton in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Season's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the pool meet in a rerun of last year's final when the tournament resumes in January as Saints travel to Bordeaux-Bègles. Northampton then conclude the group phase with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on 18 January.

The Pretoria Bulls, who have a single point from two matches, welcome Bristol next before traveling to 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)