Northampton humiliate Bristol 94-33 in record-breaking game

George Hendy scored four of Northampton's 14 tries

The Prem, Franklin's Gardens

Tries:Hendy (4), Hutchinson (2), Chick, Coles, McParland (2), Furbank, Kemeny, Pollock, GrahamCons:Smith (11), Hutchinson

Tries:Thacker, Rees-Zammit, Randall, Ivanishvili, HewardCons:Jordan, Williams (3)

Northampton Saints scored 14 tries to humiliate Bristol Bears 94-33 at Franklin's Gardens. confirm their semi-final place in a record-breaking game.

Winger George Hendy led the rout with four tries, bookending the game by crossing the whitewash in the third minute. in the last.

In between. Saints scored at will as they racked up nine first-half tries for a 61-14 lead at the break, rendering their five more after half-time as something of a come down.

The defeat,. the manner of it, is a serious blow to Bristol's hopes of making the Prem play-offs, leaving them four points behind fourth-placed Exeter who play Harlequins on Saturday. They did at least score five tries to take away a bonus point.

The total of 127 points meant it was the highest scoring game in the history of English top-flight rugby union. beating the previous record of 118 in Richmond's 106-12 win over Bedford in 1999.

The contest set a new record as the highest scoring game in the history of English top-flight rugby union

Prem leaders Northampton were back to their razor-sharp attacking best as they bounced back from their own dark day in a record defeat at rivals Leicester last weekend. now need six more points from their final two games to secure a home semi-final.

Their night began with a break from Tom Litchfield. a pass from Henry Pollock to send Hendy up the left-wing to score.

Rory Hutchinson. Callum Chick added two more tries but replies from Harry Thacker and Rees-Zammit saw the game nicely poised at 19-14.

But when Bristol winger Kalaveti Ravouvou was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, Saints took full advantage to score three more tries as Alex Coles went over from close range, Tommy Freeman's break down the right wing sent Archie McParland over. a break from Hendy freed space for George Furbank to score.

Hutchinson walked in a seventh try from an attacking line-out, Josh Kemeny broke through midfield to add an eighth,. with the final play of the first 40 minutes, an attack from their own half saw Hendy score again and Joe Batley sin-binned for a shoulder charge.

The carnage kept coming after the break as two minutes into the second half, Freeman broke up the middle. passed for Pollock to go over.

Bristol did at least work Harry Randall into the right corner for their third try but they dropped the restart. McParland collected the loose ball to run in.

Hutchinson's turnover led to Hendy's hat-trick try as he stepped in off the left wing. Bristol had conceded more points than ever before in a Prem fixture.

They did respond. a succession of penalties led to a yellow-card for Ed Prowse and a try for Luka Ivanishvili that gave Bristol a bonus point.

Noah Heward then cut a superb line in midfield and sprinted under the posts.

But the closing minutes brought further pain for the visitors as Matias Moroni became the third Bears player to be sin-binned, this time for holding Pollock,. from the penalty, Saints worked Graham in for a 13th try.

And with the final play of the game. Saints attacked down the left before bringing the play back for Hendy to finish well for yet another try.

On a night of records, Hendy's fourth score ensured it was the most points Northampton had ever scored in a Prem match - beating the 90 they racked up against Gloucester in 2024 -. equalled the number of tries they scored that day with 14.

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson:

"We were very disappointed last week. We were well. truly hammered at (Leicester) Tigers and that hurt and I think you probably saw how much that hurt today.

"I thought we reflected really well on that game in our preparation for it. actually how we've been playing for the last couple of weeks and what it means to get momentum and confidence back into a group.

"The way we trained Monday, the way we trained Wednesday. the way we connected yesterday, I thought was outstanding and it was reflected in how we played."

Bears director of rugby Pat Lam told BBC Radio Bristol:

"Saints were outstanding obviously, they made the most of everything, we had three yellow cards. they scored eight tries, they were lethal and on fire.

"We were embarrassed. we apologise to all our fans but that's what happens in life, you get knocked down but you have to dust yourself off and get up when you get a big knock like that.

"I thought the first yellow card was harsh but they were lethal, scored two, three tries quickly. got so much momentum from that."

Northampton:Furbank, Freeman, Litchfield, Hutchinson, Hendy, Smith, McParland; Iyogun, Smith, Millar Mills, Coles, Prowse, Kemeny, Pollock, Chick

Replacements:Walker, Fischetti, Green, Van Der Mescht, Pearson, Graham, Mitchell, Dingwall

Bristol:Lane, Rees-Zammit, Janse van Rensburg, Williams, Ravouvou, Jordan, Randall; Genge, Thacker, Kloska, Dun, Batley, Owen, Harding (c), Grondona

Replacements: Gwilliam, Woolmore, Lahiff, Taylor, Ivanishvili, Marmion, Moroni, Heward

Sin-bin:Ravouvou, Batley, Moroni