🔗 Share this article George Hendy Scores Three as Eight-Try Northampton Rout Bulls Northampton's Hendy previously scored a try in the previous win against Pau. Investec Champions Cup Pool Four Northampton Saints (14) 50 Tries: Sleightholme 2, Hendy 3, Pollock, Coles, Kemeny Cons: Smith 5 Pretoria Bulls (5) 5 Tries: Jacobs The young winger bagged a triple as Northampton made it maximum points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls. Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock scored the bonus point 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 interval but a yellow card to prop Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes. England fly-half Fin Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton went top of their pool on points difference from holders Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points. Fin Smith kicked 10 points in a man-of-the-match performance. The manner of this victory, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise previously, means last season's runners-up Northampton could not have asked for a better start as they aim to go one better in this campaign. Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before Saints opened the scoring when Henry Pollock broke before feeding Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed 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 the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show electric speed of his own to reply 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 George Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle. Saints were dominant in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with clearing penalties to bring the pressure back on the visitors. That told after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the architect, darting inside to deceive the advancing defence before sending a sweet grubber kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second try and Saints' third. Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been responding to a trip momentarily before by the Saints player but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when reviewed by the match officials. Saints capitalized of having the numerical advantage to clinch the try bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three tries in five minutes. Hendy wrapped up his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth try of an outstanding afternoon for Saints in the final minute. Rerun of Last Season's Final Awaits Saints The leading pair in the group will face off in a rerun of last year's final when the Investec Champions Cup resumes in the new year as Saints travel to Bordeaux. Northampton then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on 18 January. The Pretoria Bulls, who have a single point from two matches, host 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)
Northampton's Hendy previously scored a try in the previous win against Pau. Investec Champions Cup Pool Four Northampton Saints (14) 50 Tries: Sleightholme 2, Hendy 3, Pollock, Coles, Kemeny Cons: Smith 5 Pretoria Bulls (5) 5 Tries: Jacobs The young winger bagged a triple as Northampton made it maximum points from their first two Investec Champions Cup games with an eight-try thrashing of the Bulls. Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice and Henry Pollock scored the bonus point 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 interval but a yellow card to prop Alulutho Tshakweni in the 53rd minute for a unnecessary trip proved very costly and they failed to register a point in the final forty minutes. England fly-half Fin Smith contributed 10 points from the tee as Northampton went top of their pool on points difference from holders Bordeaux-Bègles with the two teams on 10 points. Fin Smith kicked 10 points in a man-of-the-match performance. The manner of this victory, coming after a 35-27 victory on the road at Section Paloise previously, means last season's runners-up Northampton could not have asked for a better start as they aim to go one better in this campaign. Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter missed an early shot at goal before Saints opened the scoring when Henry Pollock broke before feeding Sleightholme who demonstrated his speed 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 the tackle, allowing Bulls wing Jacobs to hack the ball forward and show electric speed of his own to reply 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 George Hendy over in the corner to make it fourteen to five at the half-time whistle. Saints were dominant in both ball and field position and were being given a helping hand from Bulls fly-half Wolhuter who twice missed touch with clearing penalties to bring the pressure back on the visitors. That told after 48 minutes when Fin Smith was again the architect, darting inside to deceive the advancing defence before sending a sweet grubber kick over the line for Hendy to grab his second try and Saints' third. Pretoria forward Tshakweni was then sin-binned for a tripping offense on Emmanuel Iyogun. The prop was adamant he had been responding to a trip momentarily before by the Saints player but the contact from the Saints replacement prop was ruled unintentional when reviewed by the match officials. Saints capitalized of having the numerical advantage to clinch the try bonus point through Pollock before Alex Coles and Ollie Sleightholme crossed as the home team notched three tries in five minutes. Hendy wrapped up his triple with twelve minutes left on the clock and Kemeny strolled in for the eighth try of an outstanding afternoon for Saints in the final minute. Rerun of Last Season's Final Awaits Saints The leading pair in the group will face off in a rerun of last year's final when the Investec Champions Cup resumes in the new year as Saints travel to Bordeaux. Northampton then conclude the pool stage with a fixture at home against the Scarlets on 18 January. The Pretoria Bulls, who have a single point from two matches, host 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)