Six Nations 2026: ‘Generational’ Henry Pollock ready for first England start against England
Pollock’s influence was such that children in rugby clubs across England could be seen running around wearing black tape, scoring tries and imitating his pulse-check celebration.
Northampton’s club store does a big business selling the black headband Pollock wore to protect his ears.
But his influence goes further than that.
Former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll came home after covering the match against Italy in Dublin last Saturday to find his son dressed as Pollock.
Bordeaux Begles players mocked Pollock during their post-match celebrations after winning last season’s Champions Cup final, which resulted in a final whistle brawl.
Former Scotland scrum-half Andy Nicol told Radio 5 Live: “Pollock is an outstanding rugby player and I think he’s the perfect player for the game.”
“My daughters are 25 and 22 and they don’t know who Tom Curry or Ben Earl is. They know who Henry Pollock is.”
In less than six months he went from being an England Under-20 player to playing for the British and Irish Lions.
“He’s a great character and I got on with him oddly enough on the Lions tour,” said assistant coach Johnny Sexton, who received a sarcastic 40th birthday message on the Pollock tour.
A series of solo tries, including a stop-gap in Leinster’s Champions Cup semi-final win and a remarkable chase and chase against Sale Sharks, showed Pollock had the pace and finishing ability of a Test winger.
The ability to turn the game around with a moment of magic was missing in England’s defeat against Scotland last week.
Former Ireland wing Shane Horgan added on BBC 5 Live: “He’s doing things that very few can do, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a brilliant moment [against Ireland] This excites England’s performance.
“You have an extremely highly qualified, extremely talented individual with tremendous confidence, and that confidence has yet to be dulled by anything.
“That’s when you have generational players. They’ve got all the ingredients but they’ve also got bulletproof confidence, which means they can continue to be successful throughout their careers.”
