Why ‘infectious’ Henry Pollock and others ‘not scarred’ by Calcutta Cup woe can lead England to victory
Andy Goode on Henry Pollock and the Scotland v England clash.
Henry Pollock was 13 years old when Scotland launched an era of Calcutta Cup dominance unprecedented in the history of rugby’s oldest fixture.
It was 2018 and England lost to the auld enemy for the first time in 10 years after Ryan Wilson started a fight in the Murrayfield tunnel which set the defiant tone for a famous Scottish win.
Pollock was still at prep school when the Scots recovered from 31-0 down to draw at Twickenham the following spring; at Stowe when Scotland won four on the spin.
Even last season, when the countries most recently met, the Northampton back-row was uncapped, playing for the U20s in the age-group tournament.
Odds-on favourites
There will be folk confused as to why the visitors are odds-on favourites to win in Edinburgh having lost the last two there, three of the last four.
Part of the reason, former England fly-half Andy Goode contends, is the presence of players unburdened by previous Calcutta Cup traumas. Players like Pollock.
Goode said: “Ask the lads that lost those games to Scotland and they’ll say, ‘Oh no, past history of the fixture didn’t affect us – it was about the here and now’. That’s the natural thing to say, as a bloke, right?
“I’m not so sure. And that’s why I credit Steve Borthwick for bringing in the likes of Pollock, Guy Pepper and Henry Arundell. These guys are not scarred by those defeats because they are untouched by them. They aren’t fussed around the history of this fixture.
“That fearlessness mixed with the experience of Ford, Genge, Itoje, Underhill and Earl, is going to stand England in good stead and, for me, it gives them the edge this Saturday.”
Wilson, like Goode now working for Premier Sports, believes the run of tartan success in the fixture has spawned an expectation amongst Scots which does not extend to other opponents.
But even he, with his record of whipping up hostility against the men in white, admits to an admiration for Pollock.
“When I played I was happy for everyone to hate me,” says Wilson. “I didn’t want anyone to like me from any other team, especially England.
“But I’ve got to know a few of their players really well. I was filming with Pollock last week and you can’t help but love the bloke. He’s an infectious, hilarious character.”
Times have clearly changed since Braveheart. It is this new breed of Englishman Goode credits with turbo-charging the Borthwick era.
“If you’re not playing with Pollock, you’ll absolutely hate him because he is a bit of a show pony,” he says. “And I can imagine he gives the other England lads a lot of headaches with his boundless energy and non-stop patter.
“But I think he’s a lovely lad; a player that, in the past 12 months, has tackled every rugby challenge put in front of him.
“It’s been a meteoric rise and, never mind his try celebrations and TikTok videos, it’s come off the back of his talent on the rugby field, first and foremost.
“He’s brilliant for the game. You’ve got kids now wanting to be Henry Pollock that a year ago, did not know who he was. You’re seeing grown men with wigs and tape wrapped round their head.
“For people that don’t know him it’s easy to dislike him. He’s got too much energy for some old grumpy so-and-sos.
“But speak to anyone that plays with him or knows him as a human being away from the pitch and they’ll tell you he’s one of the nicest guys you can meet.”
A year ago Pollock had just helped England U20s beat France in Bath and been called into a senior training camp where he spent the two days introducing himself.
“It’s pretty inspirational to see how quick Pollock’s got to the level he has,” says Lucas Friday, the Harlequins scrum-half who played alongside him at the Rec and is in the 20s side facing Scotland in the Six Nations this evening.
“He is thriving in the Prem, thriving at England. And when he went to the British and Irish Lions he played incredibly.
Encouraging sight
“For all of us coming through, it’s very encouraging in so much as he has made it seem not too far away, if that makes sense.
“We see what he is achieving then come into environments like this and just take every opportunity we can get.”
It remains to be seen what impact England trouncing Wales and Scotland being beaten by Italy a week ago has on events at Murrayfield this weekend.
“I actually think Scotland losing is the worst possible result for England,” says Goode. “It just allows Scotland to blow out their bagpipes a bit further with the doom and gloom of losing in the manner they did.
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“They know how to beat England and probably should have won at Twickenham last year, when Finn Russell was messed around by the referee with that last conversion and Tommy Freeman’s try should never have been given.
“The Scotland team will be massively motivated to write the wrongs of last week. It’s a big test of England but, with the confidence they’ve got and the bench to come on, I take them to win a close one.”
Andy Goode is part of the Premier Sports team bringing live Guinness Men’s Six Nations Rugby to rugby fans across the UK – broadcasting one live match per round throughout the 2026 Championship, as the home of elite rugby which includes EPCR rugby, Top 14, URC, MRL from the USA and Japan League One. This Sunday join Andy Goode, Tom Shanklin and Simon Zebo at the Principality Stadium for Wales v France on Premier Sports 1 from 2.30pm. To join in visit www.premiersports.com from £11.99 a month.
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