England great passes on ‘wind-up merchant’ mantle as Henry Pollock ‘lives rent-free’ in opposition heads
Northampton Saints back-rower Henry Pollock and England great Brian Moore.
Self-confessed wind-up merchant Brian Moore is “happy to pass the mantle” to Henry Pollock after he managed to elicit several reactions in Northampton Saints’ Investec Champions Cup victory at the weekend.
The English club moved through to the next round of the competition following a victory over Castres at Franklin’s Gardens last Friday.
Pollock was an influential figure throughout. In attack, he carried hard and in defence, he stole plenty of ball at the breakdown, but it was his sheer presence on the field that led to a few negative actions from the opposition players.
Disliked in France
He has become the pantomime villain in France and has been heavily booed when playing there, and that seeped through to the Castres players, who targeted him.
“On a bright note, as a former multiple winner of the ‘Winding up the French’ award, I am happy to pass the mantle to Pollock who, again, showed last weekend that he is able to live rent-free in his Gallic opponents’ heads,” Moore wrote in his Telegraph column.
“Without doing much more than existing, he managed to provoke several unprofessional responses from Castres Olympique players, including one which earned Guillaume Ducat a yellow card.
“I can tell him that the ‘niggle-but-don’t-hit-back’ strategy is painful, but it does work.”
Pollock’s impressive performance in the Champions Cup came just a few days after he signed with Matchroom, the sports promotion company run by the Hearns, Barry and Eddie.
It could prove to be a landmark deal for rugby union in England with the Hearns having some of the biggest British stars in their stable.
However, Moore believes that there is one significant obstacle they will have to overcome with the Saints and England back-rower if they are to successfully bring him to the wider public consciousness.
Pollock can’t ‘carry a team’
“Identifying those who the Hearns believe are the shiniest stars in their fields is central to the company’s operation and Ronnie O’Sullivan, Anthony Joshua and Luke Littler are marquee signings,” the former hooker wrote.
“There is, however, a crucial difference between Pollock and those said stars – Pollock plays in one of the most interdependent team sports on earth.
“Anybody who knows anything about rugby union knows that every position plays an important part in the success or failure of the team and though occasional acts of individual brilliance might occur, very rarely can one player carry a team whose component units underperform.
“Of course, there are stars in a team, but they do not get there or stay there on their own. This is something Matchroom would do well to recognise as it plans Pollock’s public relations campaign.”
