Henry Pollock is bouncing around the south stand at Franklin’s Gardens. He is in demand at Northampton’s media session and in between interviews he seems most preoccupied with reminding his teammate Tommy Freeman who won their latest battle on the golf course. As has been clear since his emergence, Pollock has no problem with the spotlight.
His restless energy is not confined to the pitch but soon he sits down for a chat, ostensibly to preview Northampton’s Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster on Saturday, but essentially to discuss Pollock-mania. How and why it has taken hold and whether at any stage in the 20-year-old’s fledgling career he has experienced a shred of self-doubt.
Pollock gives the impression of someone constantly trying to suppress a giggle and there are plenty of occasions when he fails. When he says the last time he felt overawed was tackling his older brother in the back garden, or when it is put to him his love for UFC might have made for a different career path, he cannot help but snigger. He is not being rude, it is just Pollock does not seem sure what all the fuss is about, all the while determined to enjoy himself regardless.
That’s the thing with Pollock. He has caused a stir not just for his prodigious gifts, but because he has such obvious fun showcasing them, and it is infectious. Kids at Northampton have been wearing black tape on their heads and pleading for the back-rower’s boots after matches; his basketball celebration is being copied in junior matches far and wide. Adult supporters may reflect on their own angst-ridden youth and cannot help but be charmed by his self-confidence.
What does he make of Pollock-mania? “I am just trying to play well at the weekend and if they are stupid enough to copy what I do on the pitch then so be it,” he says, giggling. “I don’t want to go in my shell, I want to go out there and be myself. I want to make the distance between the players and fans as close as possible because we are trying to play well for the fans and get them behind us. We’re going to need them this weekend.”
To demonstrate the speed at which Pollock has risen, this time last year he was in the thick of it with the fans. In the same round of last season’s competition, Northampton also faced Leinster away, and Pollock and a group of academy housemates undertook quite the itinerary in support. “We got a flight at 5am on the Saturday morning, which was a tough start to the trip,” says Pollock.
“We flew to Dublin and we were at Temple Bar at 9am. We were there all day and then went to watch the game and into the changing rooms afterwards with the squad. Then we went out in Dublin after, I think we left the club at three or four to get the taxi to the airport. The flight was at half-five, six, back to England. Sunday was pretty much a write-off and back in here Monday. There’s a couple of stories I wouldn’t tell you. But there were about 10 of us who went and did that, and it was one of the best weekends. It was last-minute, one of those weekends you didn’t plan for, and it was cool.”
Could he then have pictured himself 12 months later making the same trip as a Champions Cup player of the year nominee, with one cap and two tries for England, talked about as a potential British & Irish Lions bolter? “I probably was too busy [thinking] about where the next pint was going to be. Definitely not. The last 12 months have come really fast and I am very grateful for all the opportunities. I was probably just thinking about what time we were getting the cab to the airport.”
Pollock has already been labelled as cocky, even arrogant – the only pastime more popular than building up a young English sporting talent is knocking them down – but teammates and coaches stress the difference between the bravado and the person. “I’ve obviously been delighted with the way he’s playing, delighted with the impact he has on the squad,” says Northampton’s director of rugby Phil Dowson. “Sometimes Alex Coles has to tell him to shut up but, other than that, he’s been very positive, he’s played very well. He puts out this persona on the pitch but he’s actually very mature and very thoughtful and bright off it. You’ve got to be very careful judging people on what they’re doing under pressure.”
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When Pollock reveals what he considers to be the biggest setback he demonstrates a single-mindedness to go with the swagger. His addition to the England squad shortly before the start of the Six Nations was slightly earlier than expected and he was soon released back to the Under-20s, only to fight his way back into Steve Borthwick’s thinking and make his debut against Wales. For others in his position simply sampling a taste of life in the squad might have been enough. “Once you get a taste of that level you don’t want to go back to the Under-20s,” says Pollock. “That conversation I had with Steve was probably the toughest one I have had with him about my development and what’s best for me.”
There may have been a time when Dowson also sought to hold Pollock on a tighter leash – perhaps deemed him not ready for the challenge posed by Leinster away – but he says “he doesn’t need protecting. I’m trying to protect everybody else. He’s mad for it. That’s what’s great. Often, if not always, you’d have 18, 19-year-olds who might be overawed whereas he actually feeds off that and that’s just because he’s a slightly different character.”
Dowson compares him to Courtney Lawes in that regard and reveals that watching a documentary on the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who made history with their comeback victory over the New York Yankees on the way to winning the World Series, has convinced him Pollock is primed for the semi-final. “Courtney was like that. In a totally different way, a less manic way, very chilled and calm but then on the pitch he wasn’t particularly chilled or calm. Whereas Henry is just buzzing for every opportunity he gets. We watched something on the 2004 Red Sox and it said, ‘no occasion is too big for them’. That’s what I feel about Henry Pollock.”
