Following Northampton Saints\u2019 50-5 win over the Bulls in their Investec Champions Cup clash at cinch Stadium @Franklin\u2019s Gardens on Sunday, Planet Rugby picks out five takeaways from the thrilling action.<\/p>\n
The top line<\/p>\n
The home side came flying out of the blocks from the kick off and were rewarded with a well-taken try from Ollie Sleightholme in the ninth minute, but the visitors were competitive during the early stages and were rewarded when Stravino Jacobs went over the whitewash in the 23rd minute.<\/p>\n
However, Northampton<\/a> always held the upper hand in this encounter, and that dominance was rewarded 10 minutes later when George Hendy crossed for his first try, which meant the hosts held a 14-5 lead at half-time as Fin Smith succeeded with both conversions of his side\u2019s tries.<\/p>\n It was one-way traffic after the interval as the Saints took control of proceedings and were rewarded soon after the restart when Hendy scored his second five-pointer in the 49th minute.<\/p>\n Shortly afterwards, poor discipline from Alulutho Tshakweni resulted in him being yellow-carded and with a numerical advantage, Saints were rewarded with further five-pointers from the irrepressible Henry Pollock<\/a>, Alex Coles and Sleightholme, which meant they held a 40-5 lead by the 62nd minute.<\/p>\n Although the Bulls<\/a> were soon back to their full complement of players, Northampton continued to dominate, and Hendy was rewarded with his hat-trick in the 68th minute before Josh Kemeny brought up a half-century of points for the hosts in the game\u2019s dying moments.<\/p>\n Henry Pollock shows his class<\/p>\n The young England international made his return to Northampton\u2019s run-on side and showed why he is so highly rated as he came to the fore with an outstanding all-round performance.<\/p>\n From the outset, the 20-year-old was in the thick of the action as he took the fight to his opponents with several excellent carries and in the ninth minute, he provided an assist to Sleightholme, who crossed for the opening try.<\/p>\n Pollock continued to ask questions of the Bulls\u2019 defence with superb ball carrying as the match progressed, and in the 57th minute his efforts were rewarded when he powered his way over the try-line from close quarters.<\/p>\n That score secured Saints\u2019 bonus point and gave them a 28-5 lead, but Pollock was far from done as he continued to test the visitors\u2019 defence with several strong carries inside their half.<\/p>\n At the completion of match, the number eight finished with the second most carries (11), second most line breaks (2) and joint most turnovers won (2) to complete a fine individual showing.<\/p>\n A debut to forget for Kade Wolhuter<\/p>\n Although he is just 24 years old, Bulls fly-half Kade Wolhuter is an experienced playmaker who has already had stints at the Stormers and Lions before making the move to the Pretoria-based outfit.<\/p>\n