Comment: ‘Sensational’ Henry Pollock lives up to the hype in Northampton Saints’ PREM Rugby Final triumph
Northampton Saints number eight Henry Pollock.
He turned up in pink boots and trademark rat tail and left with the gleaming Gallagher PREM trophy as player of a pulsating final.
Henry Pollock divides opinion like no other rugby player. A ‘Marmite’ character we would have said back in the days when concentrated yeast extract was all the rage.
This is a man who an opponent saw fit to grab by the throat at the end of the last final he played in, for no good reason. A guy who, despite being on the losing side that day, was still being mocked by the opposition days later.
Such ability to attract attention is what appealed to Eddie Hearns when the boxing promoter signed him to his Matchroom Talent Agency in March, promising to turn him into a multi-millionaire superstar.
Yet when the 21-year old made a fool of himself at Leicester soon after, picking fights and shadow boxing with a guy who would cheerfully have knocked him into tomorrow, he appeared to have taken a wrong turn from asset into liability.
Had that Henry Pollock turned up at Allianz Stadium his Northampton Saints team might very well have lost again. That he bore no resemblance to the Welford Road version explains why they did not.
‘The blond number eight was a revelation’
In glorious June sunshine, the blond number eight was a revelation in Saints’ 26-17 win. It was his jackal turnover which ended a 25-phase attack three minutes from time that threatened to take Exeter to an unlikely win.
But he was so much more than a one-hit wonder. His bottomless energy and drive, on both sides of the ball, throughout one of the warmest afternoons of the year, drove Saints to glory.
He carried 19 times and made 18 tackles. He was both wrecking ball and momentum giver. And two years after missing Northampton’s last title win due to England U20 commitments he promised to make up for lost time.
“The plans for tonight? Anything and everything,” he said.
Northampton arrived at Twickenham vowing to take a leaf from England’s book at the FIFA World Cup and stay true to their attacking selves despite the high stakes.
“If we are going to go down we want to go down swinging,” second-row Alex Coles said in the build-up. “Playing our Saints’ way.”
Yet it was grunt rather than pyrotechnics that won them the day once reality dawned on them they would lose the final if they continued to lose the gain line.
Saints might have taken the lead after just 110 seconds after Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Olly Woodburn got in each other’s way and Tommy Freeman scored his 18th try of the season to tie Noah Caluori as the league’s arch predator.
But Chiefs’ response was so physical, so uncompromising, so bloody-minded, that with an hour gone they led and Saints were battered and bruised from punishment meted out by the likes of Greg Fisilau, Len Ikitau and Ethan Roots.
With Archie McParland off injured, Fin Smith having been almost cut in half by a fearsome hit from Roots and Saints behind on the scoreboard, something needed to change. Step forward Pollock.
It was at this moment we thought back to Welford Road and, more pertinently, the way people close to the back-row tyro spelt it out to him that his total loss of composure was unacceptable.
‘The penny has dropped’
Since that day six weeks ago the England man has been on a different level. The penny has dropped. The warning from Hearn of ‘how can I say you’re the best thing since sliced bread if you are not performing’ has registered.
When Leicester came to Franklin’s Gardens for the semi-final last week, Pollock made 26 carries. He brought both the power and the glory. Frankly, he was sensational.
Saints needed more from where that came from here and the former Stowe schoolboy delivered in spades.
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George Hendy’s two tries in four minutes shortly after the third quarter water break had opened a nine-point lead but Exeter were refusing to go quietly.
For seven minutes they laid siege to the Saints’ red zone. For seven long minutes Pollock and team-mates repelled them. In that period, they made 48 tackles and conceded zero points.
Saints said they would do it for George Furbank, their much-loved departing fullback. They pledged a performance, too, for defence coach Lee Radford, who is also leaving the Gardens. They were true to their word.
“This is a dream,” Pollock said later. “These moments, in the biggest game on the biggest stage, for your boyhood club. It’s what you dream of as a little kid. And it’s everything I imagined.”
