Ex-Springboks boss calls out Henry Pollock selection ‘nonsense’ and suggests ‘simple mistake’ led to player of the match gaffe
Henry Pollock was only a sub for England in their defeat to a South Africa side inspired by Damian Willemse, inset
Former South Africa boss Nick Mallett believes Steve Borthwick was wrong to select Henry Pollock as an England replacement in Saturday’s Nations Championship clash in Johannesburg.
The extrovert 21-year-old won his 11th Test cap, but it was his 10th appearance as a replacement due to Borthwick’s preference for starting the youngster on the bench.
Pollock enjoyed a two-try cameo when debuting as a replacement away to Wales in March 2025, going on to earn selection in Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions squad.
He has been a regular Borthwick pick since his return to the England fold but only once has he been named to start, the February defeat to Ireland at Twickenham.
“Don’t worry about all the media pressure…”
Pollock was only considered as a sub in the follow-up losses to Italy and France, and a cover spot was also his role against South Africa, but Mallett feels this was the wrong call and it contributed to England’s 45-21 defeat.
Appearing on Talking Boks with Brendan Nel, Mallett was initially complimentary of how England fared, fighting their way back from an early 17-0 deficit to only trail by three points at the interval.
However, he went on to suggest that Pollock should have started and needs to be treated like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who last year became a regular Springboks starter despite his Test inexperience.
“I would have started Pollock,” he said. “I don’t think he is a guy that you necessarily bring off the bench. He is a fantastic rugby player, and you start the guy and don’t worry about all the media pressure.
“It’s like saying Sacha, we’ll bring him on with 20 minutes to go to protect him. That’s nonsense. You want to get him out there and give him the best opportunity to show what he can do. If they had started with him and a big blindside flank and Earl, their loose trio would have been better.”
Other than this conservative selection regarding Pollock, Mallett praised England’s effort and wasn’t inclined to put the boot into Borthwick despite the loss being the coach’s fifth defeat in a row.
“I felt they had a really good side. The Premiership had a really good final, and Northampton has been playing well and he had a number of their players in his team.
“They went into this game with a decent chance, but they had a poor start to quickly go three tries down. But to get it back to 17-14 at half-time, when they had the ball and held onto it, they were dangerous…
“I am not too critical of Borthwick. I have been there myself. I know how difficult it is when you go away to get a result. South Africa did perform well, but the result flattered us and they didn’t deserve to get 45 points (put on them).”
Despite his suggestion that the 24-point margin of victory flattered the Springboks, Mallett enjoyed what was produced by Rassie Erasmus’ side and he especially praised the impact of full-back Damian Willemse.
“I want to have a word about the 50-cap players. Willemse was absolutely outstanding. With the greatest respect to (Damian) de Allende, Willemse was the man of the match and I am wondering did they make a simple mistake and they got the wrong Damian in there?
“I’m not being rude to Damian de Allende, but that might have happened because Damian Willemse was absolutely brilliant and I can’t see someone not choosing him… I didn’t see many people have poor games, but Damian was just an absolute standout and he is just a passionate guy and a wonderful team guy… he was absolutely outstanding at full back.”
Mallett was also chuffed with the impact of Kolbe and rated the overall team performance as a seven or eight out of 10. “(Cheslin) Kolbe scored a beautiful try and was great in the air and played so well for us, especially in the second half. A seven or an eight out of 10 for that performance. A great start against arguably our greatest opponent in the first three games at home.”
The Springboks were dealt a pre-game curveball, losing the experience of Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi to injury, but he was delighted with how the debut-making Paul de Villiers and fellow rookie Cameron Hanekom, who was making his second appearance, fared following their late inclusions. That energy of the bench was also highlighted.
“The youngsters did outstandingly. Paul de Villiers, in particular in the first 15 minutes, he won the first penalty for us on the ground, his run off the back of the lineout set up that first try, he and Hanekom drove Thomas du Toit over the line when he scored his try – the immediate support was outstanding there.
“They played really well, and the bench was excellent. The bench came on at just the right time and, because we weren’t having too many driving mauls or scrums, we ended up having some tremendous mobility from those tight forwards.
“Zach Porthen had a rampaging run, as did (Jan-Hendrik) Wessels. We saw Ben-Jason (Dixon) score a try, but he was all over the field really and so it was a really good performance by the young guys. I was really impressed with that.”
