Henry Pollock breaks silence on Champions Cup fracas as Lions bolter ‘angry’ at being ‘strangled’ by suspended Bordeaux star
Northampton Saints star Henry Pollock, who was 'strangled' by Bordeaux prop Jefferson Poirot.
Henry Pollock has revealed what went on in the post-match Investec Champions Cup scuffle which led to Bordeaux-Begles prop Jefferson Poirot being banned.
Northampton Saints succumbed to UBB 28-20 in the showpiece event in a match that was played in good spirits, but it all spilled over following the final whistle.
TV footage showed the end of the incident with Pollock gesturing to his neck after Poirot’s team-mate had briefly put his hand there.
However, the back-rower insisted that it was the moments before that in which he – and ultimately the independent panel – took umbrage with.
Pollock’s view of the incident
“The whistle goes, and obviously it’s pretty heated. I think Dingers [Fraser Dingwall] and [Matthieu] Jalibert were pushing and shoving,” Pollock told TNT Sports.
“I went over to Jalibert, pushed him and got involved, and was like: ‘I’m not letting Dingers be on his own here.’
“And then as I’m doing this – I didn’t know this in the moment, Fin [Smith] was looking around – apparently the loosehead [Poirot] was on the bench and beelined it straight to me.
“So we’re in this, and he basically grabs my neck and gets his hands on my throat and squeezes my neck. I wasn’t happy with this, I was pretty angry.
“I managed to rip his shirt, and then the bit that you see is as he turns away, I push him, and then his friend comes in.”
Pollock was seen having a discussion with assistant referee Andrea Piardi afterwards and the incident was duly cited.
Poirot was handed a two-week ban for an act that was deemed ‘against the spirit of good sportsmanship’ and will miss Bordeaux’s final two matches of the regular Top 14 season.
‘It was mad’
“We had to do statements after. It was mad, you’ve just won the Champions Cup and the first thing you want to do is run on and strangle a 20-year-old,” Pollock added.
The youngster was joined by fellow British & Irish Lions call-up and Saints team-mate Tommy Freeman, who stated that the back-rower has “got a bit of a target on his back, through no fault of his own.”
UBB mocked Pollock in the celebrations with pictures showing both players and coaches mimicking the England loose forward’s ‘pulse-check’ celebration.
“I would actually say, if they want to do that and make you the front line of their celebrations, then fair play.”
