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

George Hendy scored a hat-trick as Northampton made it maximum points from their opening two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of Pretoria.

Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock scored the fourth try before the hour mark as a commanding Saints team cut loose in the second half.

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

England fly-half Smith added 10 points with the boot 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 victory, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise previously, means last year's losing finalists Saints could not have asked for a better start as they aim to improve on that in this campaign.

Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter failed with an early penalty before the hosts took the lead when Henry Pollock made a break before passing to Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed to sprint away 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 Pretoria winger Stravino Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show blistering pace 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 put Hendy over to make it 14-5 at the half-time whistle.

Northampton were dominant in possession and territory and were being aided from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who failed to find touch with penalty kicks to bring the pressure back on the visitors.

That proved decisive after 48 minutes when Smith was again the creator, darting inside to deceive the onrushing defense before sending a perfectly weighted left-footed kick over the line for George Hendy to collect his second and Saints' third score.

Bulls prop Tshakweni was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been reacting to a trip momentarily before by the Saints player but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when looked at by the match officials.

Saints seized the opportunity of having the extra man to clinch the try bonus point through Pollock before Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three tries in five minutes.

Hendy wrapped up his triple with 12 minutes remaining and Kemeny walked over for the eighth and final try of an excellent afternoon for Northampton in the final minute.

Rematch of Last Year's Final Next for Saints

The leading pair in the pool will face off in a rematch of last year's final when the tournament resumes in the new year as Saints travel to Bordeaux-Bègles. Northampton then conclude the pool stage with a home game against the Scarlets on 18 January.

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