Resilient Northampton take charge of pool with impressive win over Bulls in Pretoria  

Saints move four points clear of Munster in Pool 3 after digging deep and defying loss of skipper Furbank to consign Bulls to back-to-back losses

BULL SHIFT: Fin Smith of Northampton Saints drives ahead in the Investec Champions Cup Round 2 clash at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. Pic: INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Deon van der Merwe

Bulls 21 Northampton 30

Northampton overcame the loss of injured captain George Furbank to post a statement 30-21 Investec Champions Cup win against the Bulls in Pretoria.

England international full-back Furbank went off 10 minutes before half-time after suffering an issue with his right arm following a tackle by Bulls skipper Elrigh Louw.

The Gallagher Premiership champions dug deep, though, at Loftus Versfeld, with Furbank's replacement George Hendy and number eight Juarno Augustus scoring first-half tries en route to a bonus-point triumph.

Augustus' score came immediately after Saints prop Emmanuel Iyogun had been yellow-carded, which underlined a resilient performance at altitude in temperatures of more than 30 degrees.

Wing Tommy Freeman added two tries after the break, while fly-half Fin Smith kicked two conversions and two penalties. Back-row forwards Cameron Hanekom (two) and Marcell Coetzee touched down for the Bulls, with Johan Goosen converting all three.

Saints' victory leaves them in charge of Pool Three following a bonus-point success against Castres in their Champions Cup opener, sitting four points clear of Munster after the province's abject defeat to Castres on Friday night.