Brian O’Driscoll gives his view on ‘pantomime villain’ Henry Pollock after England star’s ‘irksome’ celebrations led to grudge match
Henry Pollock celebrating try for Northampton Saints and Ireland and Lions legend Brian O'Driscoll.
Ireland and Lions legend Brian O’Driscoll insists that Henry Pollock is “good for the game” ahead of the repeat of last season’s Investec Champions Cup final.
Northampton Saints visit France this weekend to take on Bordeaux-Begles in what has turned into a grudge match.
Much of that centres around Pollock, who has enjoyed a remarkable rise up the ranks, which culminated in a British and Irish Lions call-up for the Australia tour.
The 20-year-old has been exceptional for club and country over the past 18 months, but his antics and carefree approach has also added to the attention surrounding Northampton’s and England’s brilliant youngster.
Rubbed people up the wrong way
As a result, he has become a target for certain opponents and Bordeaux took exception to him, but veteran prop Jefferson Poirot crossed a line following the 2025 Investec Champions Cup final.
Poirot grabbed Pollock’s throat in the aftermath of that clash and, as a result, was handed a two-week ban by a disciplinary panel.
Both those players will renew their rivalry this weekend after being named in their respective starting line-ups for Sunday’s encounter.
“Pollock’s a bit of a pantomime villain at such a young age of 20. He’s good for the game, like him or loathe him, because you want these personalities,” O’Driscoll told Off The Ball.
“He’s been doing these celebrations after scoring tries and obviously it really irked Poirot, among others, and they wanted to tell him about it.
“You want those fiery contests. Certain teams just dislike one another and it can be one game or it can be multiple games that build that disdain.
“But this is a one-time game, there’ll be fireworks down there. Fireworks on the physicality, the referee will have their work cut out, but the other thing is the quality of both of these sides.”
In-form Bordeaux and Northampton
It will be an intense affair but it should also be high quality given that both teams go into the match in pretty good form.
Although Bordeaux will rue away defeats to Montpellier and Clermont Auvergne, they have put 46 points on the Bulls and Toulon, and broke the 50 mark against the Scarlets and Racing 92 since the start of December.
Northampton have arguably been even more impressive, having won five matches in a row, including big victories over Sale Sharks (47-21), Bath (41-21) and Harlequins (66-21) during the festive period.
“I haven’t watched a huge amount of Bordeaux but I’ve seen that they’ve had a number of good results of late, they’re in the top four of the Top 14,” O’Driscoll added.
“Northampton Saints are playing sensational rugby. We talk negatively about the kick game and where it’s gone, and rugby’s gotten a bit boring – too many scrums – but Northampton Saints are playing a different game than nearly everybody else.”
