Henry Pollock: 'I kind of envied McGregor in his early days'

Tuesday’s one-to-one Zoom rendezvous with Henry Pollock contrasted to the last time he touched base with RugbyPass. The title party was in full swing last July when Pollock and Asher Opoku-Fordjour stepped into a dressing room corridor in Cape Town to boisterously reflect in person with this writer about England’s World Rugby U20 Championship final triumph over France.

“We’ve done it, eh! Champions of the world!! Let’s GO!!!,” roared Pollock enthusiastically, managing to be heard despite tunes loudly blasting from a boombox on the other side of the door. Giddy times.

Circumstances were less lively the other day, the back-rower pulling up a chair in a sun-lit room in England to chat before heading to the gym and continuing preparations for Friday night’s age-grade Six Nations clash with France in Bath. It’s been a life-changing seven months since South Africa for the recently turned 20-year-old.

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Plenty of first-team action for Northampton, a November start for England A, and then a recent senior team call-up. Steve Borthwick needed reinforcements to fly to Girona and Pollock stayed a week before linking up with Mark Mapletoft’s U20s for the campaign that began with a fractious win over Ireland in Cork.

Five days after that squabble fell England’s way 19-3, the scar of victory was still visible in the shiner under Pollock’s left eye. “I don’t know (how I got it). Probably at the bottom of one of the rucks when an Irish player put his shoulder in or something. I don’t actually know.”

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What the youngster is certain of is that 2024/25 has been his big breakthrough in the game. From boy to man. A holiday in the Balearic Islands following England’s success in the South African winter enabled him to quickly take his rugby to new heights.

“We have a family home on Majorca and were on the boat all day in the sun just relaxing, a bit of partying in the evening, and then just resetting the rugby button I guess. It was a special time. Three weeks off which was quite cool. A class three weeks.”

This perfect tonic left him bouncing into pre-season at Northampton and embracing the quantum leap that was making 14 appearances – eight as a starter – and signing off in January with Franklin’s Gardens in raptures after his penalty-winning poach left Munster beaten and the Saints marching on in his first Investec Champions Cup adventure.

Did he believe he could be so good so quickly at adult level? “No, probably not to be fair. It’s come pretty quickly, but I’m just trying to enjoy my rugby day-to-day and things hopefully come together on the back of that.”

There were numerous good conversations with Saints coaches last summer. What was said? “Just that I don’t have to change that much about my game. It’s just little fine details here and there and then hopefully they see it and I get a good bit of game time on the back of that. I had to wait but I was lucky enough to get an opportunity off the bench against Leicester. It just went from there.”

Beefing up accelerated his glossy impact. “We had a little chat about that, increasing that slowly over the year but nothing major. Aiming for 106, 107kgs probably. Currently 104 so not too much to go. You have to be a bit dedicated to what you eat, how many times a day you eat, that kind of stuff.”

Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor is a curious left-field influence. “I’m reading the law of attraction which is really interesting. I kind of envied McGregor back in his early days as a UFC fighter and what he did with that book [The Secret by Rhonda Byrne] and visualised his whole career was very cool, so I’m trying to pick brains with what he did back in the day. Obviously not currently because of the stuff on the internet but definitely back in his earlier UFC career.”

Pollock’s rewards have been sumptuous, a Northampton extension getting inked in December. “I signed a contract for two years. They definitely give you the confidence at Saints to be able to achieve stuff at a young age. They give you the confidence to go and play. That’s massive.

 

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“If you make a mistake they are going to try and see it in a different view to how other people see it. They see it was the right opportunity to go and move the ball and if the skill execution wasn’t there, at least you are making the right pass or have the right idea.

“Look, they always back you 100 per cent and know what is right for you. I have full trust in the Saints coaches and you can tell because the pathway at Saints is so strong. Having almost half of the team if not more all come through the academy is a credit to the system.”

Beating Munster three weeks ago a thrill. “Whenever I come off the bench I want to try and make an impact,” he explained. “It was the dying minutes of the game and I was looking around the back of the breakdown, fishing for the opportunities. I then saw the opportunity, the ball was there, got in a good position and just tried to lift the ball.

“Luckily I got it and then the ref agreed with me and we kicked it out. It was pretty special. The crowd erupted and I had never heard Franklin’s Gardens that loud. It was cool and all the boys were around me giving it large. Lots of boys played well that day and it was a cool game to be part of.”

Poaching is an art and those who excel are treasured. What is Pollock’s approach? “I guess it’s just trying to catch the opposition off guard. They think the ball is kind of free and then next thing you know you have got me at the bottom of it trying to get the ball. I just like how involved you get in the phases. You are kind of always in their face, always in the middle of them over the ball and yeah, I think it is class.

“I definitely wouldn’t say it [my technique] is perfect. I’m still learning on the job I guess, so every day just trying to see different ways, see pictures get better, but I’d say the main thing is body position, nice and low, kind of getting a good hold on the ball and showing the referee a lift because that is the main thing they want to see. You have to show that and then just pick the right chance. You don’t want to go at every breakdown. You want to pick and choose the best opportunities to go over the ball.”

Despite having Scottish parents, Pollock’s Spanish week with Borthwick’s England has fired his ambition to ultimately go all the way and be capped at Test level with the rose on his chest. “Yeah, 100 per cent. That’s the goal for me. I just hope to keep playing well and you never know what happens in the future.

“I’m already taken with the England A game, so that has cut off the Scottish ties. My parents were born and bred in Scotland, probably moved in their early, late 20s. I’m born in England so definitely English. Dad supported Scotland when we were younger so I supported them a little but definitely supported England.

“I spent six days there,” he added, outlining his recent Test squad involvement. “It was really cool. Very fortunate to get the opportunity to go out to Girona and train with them, see the different environment and learn from some world-class players. I just tried to be like a sponge and take as much in from different coaches, different players, just picking the brains of people I wouldn’t normally chat to. They were really helpful – you definitely felt part of the group.”

Defensive strategy especially piqued his interest. “England is more of a linespeed defence whereas at Saints it’s more of a sit-off and decision making, so it is just adapting that and trying to make that a super strength coming back into England 20s and doing the same thing.

 

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“There isn’t much readjustment, just a different environment, different people, different coaching staff so adapting to that and adapting to systems but personally my game doesn’t change massively when I come here to the 20s. It’s just how can I still try and be one of the best players on the pitch each week.

“France are the outfit this year we are most looking forward to playing. They will be out for revenge after the World Cup final, and we beat them last year in the last game in the Six Nations to win it. There is definitely a bit of history between us and whenever England play France at any age level it’s always a big game, so the boys are fired up.”

Pollock’s exuberance is such that you likely hear him before you see him. He fizzes energy and noise and his personality isn’t for changing. “No issue, definitely. I don’t want to change and I don’t want to change just because of the environment I am in. I’m just loving my rugby and I’m definitely not changing,” he said, adding there was an important lesson learned a couple of years ago when liberally using the F-word in a post-match age-grade interview.

“There is being yourself and also saying the wrong thing. That was probably over the line a little bit. Looking back on it, I said the wrong thing at the wrong time but sometimes you have to say I made a mistake and I learned from it I guess.”

Ready for round 2??!

Mark Mapletoft has named his England U20 Men's match day squad to face France ?@Honda_UK | @SixNationsU20

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 5, 2025