Springboks prop: South Africans are conservative people and won’t understand ‘big-headed’ Henry Pollock
Henry Pollock and an inset of Springboks prop Trevor Nyakane
Henry Pollock is not universally adored or even understood, and that will be clear this week when England tackle the Springboks at Ellis Park.
That is according to prop Trevor Nyakane, who believes that many of the more ‘conservative’ fans won’t appreciate the boisterous nature of the England flanker who shot to stardom in 2025.
Henry Pollock, the pantomime villain
Pollock is not only renowned for his energetic performances for Northampton Saints and England but also for his social media antics and is often relishing the hostile reception he gets at stadiums.
He is set to be welcomed similarly in Johannesburg this week and has been tipped by former England scrum-half Ben Youngs to play the ‘pantomime villain’ role again in the Nations Championship opener.
“In terms of those individuals, one man in particular who I cannot wait to see play out there is, of course, Henry Pollock, and hopefully he’ll be on a dry track, and he can light it up because I feel that he can play the pantomime villain to the South African fans better than anyone,” the England legend said on the For the Love of Rugby podcast.
South Africans are told not to be ‘windgat’
Nyakane says that in South Africa, players are taught to be more ‘humble’ and to focus on the job at hand, rather than excessively celebrating tries or worrying about their social media presence.
“It’s going to be a very interesting thing because as South Africans we are conservative people, especially in the rugby space. We say in Afrikaans, don’t be ‘windgat‘ or don’t get a big head,” he said.
“Rugby players in South Africa are taught to be more humble; that’s just how we are, and not to say that you guys aren’t humble, it’s like just go on about your work, shut up, and leave it at that.
“South Africa as a team will handle him like any other talented rugby player. They will handle him exactly like that. But the ooms [uncles] that are sitting in the crowd won’t understand that.”
Former Springboks prop Steven Kitshoff, who joined Youngs and Nyakane on the podcast, agreed with his fellow front-rower and expects Rassie Erasmus and his coaching team to do their homework on the flanker in order to limit his influence.
“There’s been a lot of chatter around Henry Pollock over the last couple of months… but it’s going to be interesting, and hopefully he rocks up confident because then he plays well, but then also I hope the South Africans do their homework on him and not allow him to get away with too many things,” he said.
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Felix Jones’ role
Kitshoff adds that the Boks do have an ace up their sleeve in the form of assistant coach Felix Jones, who not only spent the 2024 international season in England’s coaching team but has a huge focus on individual players’ strengths.
“Having Felix Jones back, who spent some time with Steve, it’s quite an interesting conversation because throughout the time that I spent with Felix, he puts a big focus on individual players,” he said.
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“So he would definitely have a good look at what Pollock and the Smiths [Fin and Marcus] could be doing in and out of his game.
“He’ll look at the guys’ individual performances and say, ‘This is a guy that we need to watch.’
“There’s the time and respect that goes into understanding the soul of what England does and their DNA, and there’s a big focus on our things and what we need to fix as the Springboks.
“But there’s an underlying aspect in saying, ‘If we need to really rip these guys apart. We need to target individual players and make sure that they’re off their game.’ And if you find those three elements and they put them together, that’s normally how the Springboks prepare and do their analysis work on any opposition.”
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