The prospect of an England rookie making a Test debut in Cardiff turns thoughts to the chastening experience of Mathew Tait some 20 years ago.
It was that evening that Gavin Henson bent a tense game to his will, setting Wales on course for their first Grand Slam since 1978. He man-handled Tait in two brawny tackles before kicking the decisive points. Tait, then 19, was promptly dropped in what felt like a clumsy piece of man management.
Henry Pollock is another prodigious talent. But just as intriguing as the back-rower’s pace, deceptive power, handling skills and breakdown spoiling, is his persona. The 20-year-old possesses an unmistakable swagger that has accompanied his inexorable rise through the senior ranks over the past 12 months.
If and when he joins the action at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, regardless of the match situation or the crowd volume, Pollock is likely to look at home. That is because of a steadfast self-confidence. He evidently believes that he belongs in rarefied air, which goes a long way.
Take last Sunday, during the team warm-up before England beat Italy. Pollock was buzzing about in the capacity of travelling reserve for the first time. He was donning his trademark head tape and geeing up older colleagues with vigorous back slaps.
After the match-day 23 jogged towards the changing rooms and the reserves broke away for sprint drills, spectators will have seen Pollock’s impressive speed over the ground.
Still eligible for England Under-20s, with whom he won the World Championship last summer, Pollock exudes raw and unbridled enthusiasm. Having watched him in training over the past couple of months or so, Steve Borthwick has clearly decided that the best course of action is to keep the momentum rolling.
Pollock is poised to become a 16th England debutant since Borthwick took over as head coach at the beginning of 2023, and he is probably a nose ahead of Asher Opoku-Fordjour as the one that supporters are most excited about. In this era of highlight reels and viral clips, his hype train has long left the station. Even amid a splurge of openside flankers, with Ben Curry enjoying a brilliant Six Nations, Pollock just seems different.
Phil Dowson articulated matters typically well at the end of November. Pollock had just landed a man-of-the-match gong following an effervescent tour de force for England A against Australia’s second string at the Twickenham Stoop, and the Northampton Saints director of rugby was asked why he had been reluctant to lump praise on the protégé during pre-season.
“Henry hadn’t played a Premiership game for a year and there was all this hoo-ha,” Dowson said. “He had massive potential. But had he shown anything? Yeah, in training and for England Under-20s. Now we can talk about him… because he’s f------ good.
“At the time, he could have gone into the Premiership and been found out. People would have gone: ‘Flash in the pan. He’s had all this smoke blown up him.’ Now you can blow smoke. He’s played four or five games at this level, been man of the match for England A. Now, I’m comfortable saying he’s a baller.”
Since then, Pollock’s star has continued to surge. He spun through three or four tackles to score a maiden Champions Cup try against Castres in December and consolidated that by starting at openside in Pretoria as Northampton ousted the Bulls 30-21. Pollock punched above his weight on the gain line and around the ruck and engaged in a couple of exchanges. Never too far away from a tangle, he unapologetically relishes confrontation.
Eye-catching cameos against Saracens, Newcastle and Bath followed before Pollock bagged two more tries in Paris during a loss to Stade Français. The next week, however, he pounced for a jackal turnover that sealed a tight defeat of Munster.
That brought us to the Six Nations, and Pollock must have been straining at the leash as he went from the seniors’ training camp in Girona to play in the under-20 side. Coiled spring or not, he exercised restraint – a quality that complements his ability to produce Hollywood moments – and delivered a pair of measured displays against Ireland and France Under-20s.
From there, Borthwick whisked him back among the top dogs and an inevitable cap appeared closer. Pollock is cocooned between Chandler Cunningham-South and Tom Willis on a six-two bench for Saturday, and may not be required at all. However, he could have a crucial role in helping the visitors raise the intensity late on after the Curry twins have run themselves into the ground – or if Ben Earl has to move into the back line.
To register a bonus-point triumph at the Principality, something Ireland did not manage, England may require a fast finish. Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell will scrap and spoil voraciously from the start and this is likely to be looser than recent Anglo-Welsh affairs.
England will have sore bodies after a six-day turnaround at the end of a draining tournament. As much as senior team-mates should support him, Pollock can be an energiser and an inspiration.
Whatever happens, England must be mindful of treating Pollock better than Tait was in 2005. In truth, he will have been earmarked for the summer tour of Argentina and the United States and well into the future. A dunk in the Cardiff cauldron, fiery baptism though it might prove, is just the beginning.
