Kevin Sinfield has seen a few things. Involved in both codes of rugby for three decades as a decorated player and now coach, he has worked with hundreds of players, a broad range of personalities. None of them has been like Henry Pollock.
“I've never worked with anybody like that. I've never played with anybody like that. Not at his age, to bring what he brings,” Sinfield says. “I've been around loud players, I've been around noisy players and guys who brought energy, but they haven't been as good as him. And they haven't been as focused as him.”
That point about workrate can easily get lost with Pollock amid the try-scoring celebrations, the shock of blonde hair, the TikTok dances, the increasing sponsorship deals; his remarkable ability to get inside the heads of opponents and their supporters; the energy levels that would make even Tigger from Winnie the Pooh sigh and think "that’s too much for me".
Steve Borthwick, the England head coach who has handed Pollock his first Test start on Saturday against Ireland, earlier this week recalled when he met the No8 for the first time at Franklin’s Gardens. His verdict on Pollock after that encounter – “wonderfully different” – feels quite apt.
“He was barely out of school but I was told when you’re up there you should meet Henry Pollock, a young player, a huge future ahead of him. He’s not yet played for the first team, but you should meet Henry Pollock,” Borthwick says.
“I was stood in the car park and this bundle of energy just bounced up to me, and typically when an 18-year-old meets the England head coach for the first time they are usually on the shy and retiring side. But this man is the complete opposite; gregarious, loud. The first thing he said was, ‘How are you, mate?’. I thought, right, you’re different. Wonderfully different and that’s the kind of character we’ve got in the squad. He’s larger than life, isn’t he? Just wants to do well, wants to express himself.”
Watching Pollock live, it can be easy to slip into “player cam” mode, monitoring his movements on and off the ball.
One thing which stood out recently came during the anthems at Murrayfield, the kind of occasion you imagine a normal 21-year-old, making his first appearance for England in the bearpit against their fiercest rivals, would find slightly daunting. God Save The King finished and Pollock reached across to give Fraser Dingwall, his older and more experienced Northampton team-mate, a reassuring pat on the leg to rev him up. Pollock himself? Unfazed.
When he did arrive off the bench against Scotland, replacing Guy Pepper with 24 minutes left, the lift to England’s attacking tempo was instantly noticeable; steamrolling over George Horne for one break, making good ground on the other wing in the build-up to Ben Earl’s consolation try. Making 44 metres from two carries. He instinctively picks great support lines and has enough pace that England have trained him on the wing.
Somewhat overlooked at Murrayfield was Pollock’s impact at the breakdown. Scotland, playing with a penalty advantage, appeared on the cusp of scoring when Pollock reacted quickest to a loose ball more or less right in front of the posts to win a turnover. Scotland returned to the original offence, kicked to the corner, and after several phases infringed at the breakdown, allowing England to escape without further embarrassment on the scoreboard.
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Five minutes later, when Darcy Graham danced his way through multiple tackle attempts, putting Scotland on the front foot once more, it was Pollock who reacted fastest to come up with a turnover. It is not always about the flash stuff. There is an appetite there for work.
Borthwick, when asked for a standout Pollock moment, referred to another defensive involvement for Northampton against Munster in the Champions Cup, when he came off the bench to win a jackal penalty which helped secure a narrow 34-32 win.
"Most young players in that kind of situation, the game's tight, you make a mistake that could cost the team the game, and they choose not to do something. Because they'd rather not do something than make a mistake,” Borthwick says. “And Henry Pollock came on and just thought about winning – how do I help my team win this game? And I love that. I thought that was a tremendous moment that tells you about the character of someone."
It is easy with a player as flash as Pollock to start making assumptions about their determination. Borthwick shuts those down quickly. “Very, very good habits and very conscientious. There's a larger-than-life character that definitely exists, there is also the guy who sits and studies, watches and makes sure he delivers when he needs to deliver what is required for the team."
England will need the impact he showed at Murrayfield and in his other previous bench appearances immediately. Borthwick mentioned Earl’s carrying against Scotland, purposefully grinding his way to 22 carries, and how he wants Pollock to match that output, an athletic back-row of Pollock, Earl and Tom Curry tasked with running Ireland ragged. As noted by Joe Heyes, the England prop who sits at the opposite end of the in-game chatter scale to Pollock, as a runner Pollock can be deceptive.
“For someone who you may look at and think does not look hugely powerful, he is. He's a hell of an athlete,” Heyes says. “With his personality, he brings that in a physical way which is a good thing to see. You don't want someone who is full of personality but who does not provide on the pitch. He gives both.”
It is unusual to have played in a Champions Cup final and toured with the British and Irish Lions before making a first Test start, but then when has Pollock ever done anything the conventional way? The sign that his profile was beginning to reach different levels came when two supporters were picked out by French television at a Champions Cup game between Northampton and Bordeaux-Bègles wearing replica Pollock headbands and blonde wigs.
There are bound to be more of those on Saturday, when Pollock reaches a landmark moment in his career that he feels more than ready for. As he did with Dingwall before kick-off at Murrayfield, Pollock can now give this whole England side a lift. Let the final word go to Sinfield. “Behind the bravado and what Henry is, there's a fantastic rugby player there.”