The sporting gods can sometimes be mischievous. Steve Borthwick’s vision of rugby heaven is a cohesive team that consistently delivers without huge amounts of fuss and squeezes the life out of opponents like a white-shirted python. Control, physicality, tactical acumen and work rate will forever be more central to his vision of Test match success than individual front-page razzle-dazzle.
And what happens? With almost comic timing the door to the England dressing room has been flung off its hinges by a 20-year-old rock star forward with the ability to transform games on his own. Henry Pollock has now scored three tries in 61 minutes of international rugby, is all over social media and already has half the rugby world itching to punch his lights out.
Saturday’s game, in which England ultimately eased to a 25-7 win over the Wallabies, will certainly have made an impression on the Australian psyche. On one side of the ledger there was the brilliant one-handed scoop off the deck that preceded the Northampton back-row’s stunning 58th-minute try. On the other were the wind-up antics and boorish roaring in the faces of opponents that, rightly or wrongly, make him look like an arrogant, entitled, private-school-educated prat.
To which plenty will respond that, hey, rugby union needs all the publicity it can get and that expectations of grace, class and courtesy from high-profile athletes are so last century. Whatever your personal stance, one thing is certain: Pollock is on course to overtake Stuart Broad and Sir Douglas Jardine in the sporting unpopularity stakes in Australia where the phrase “carrying on like a pork chop” will definitely get an airing. No one wants emotionless players to match the robot mowers the Rugby Football Union has just signed up to use on its pitches. The exuberant Pollock is not a bad boy at heart. But maybe it would be an idea for someone to have a quiet word and advise the young man to rein it in fractionally, as much for his own good as his team’s.
Because as long as referees don’t lose patience with him and he doesn’t get ahead of himself, Pollock can be the once-in-a-generation catalyst capable of taking England from steady Eddies to genuine 2027 World Cup contenders.
Whether as a starter or an impact sub – and what a collective impact England’s bench made on the weekend – Pollock has a habit of sparking any team into life. England are not the world’s biggest pack but in the final half-hour on Saturday there was a glimpse of how compelling they could become if they marry Borthwick’s structural engineering with a touch of go-faster dash and relentless energy. Because, when you think about it, how many other back-rows in world rugby would have had the dexterity, pace and confidence to score Pollock’s try? Aside from New Zealand’s Wallace Sititi or Ardie Savea, it is hard to think of anyone. And when you blend that with Ben Earl’s dynamism and the physical back-five excellence of Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Ollie Chessum and Maro Itoje, never mind Guy Pepper, Ben Curry, Chandler Cunningham-South, Alex Coles and George Martin, you can begin to see why the estimable Tom Willis has opted to cash in his chips and relocate back to France.
The opening leg of this month’s Autumn Nations Series quartet also showcased the stiffening of England’s defence; seven points conceded to an interception try is a far cry from the 42 points conceded in this corresponding fixture 12 months ago. Aerially, too, England were excellent with Tom Roebuck’s high-ball work leading directly to two tries. Admittedly the body language of a weakened, weary Wallaby team was as flat as outback roadkill but there was no disputing the late effectiveness of the red rose maul nor the sense there is much more to come from a side that has now reeled off eight successive Test victories.
There should be a ninth in store against Fiji this Saturday and, with New Zealand and Argentina still to come, the chance exists for Borthwick’s team to demonstrate they can also attack with more sharpness than was the case for the most part against Australia. Whether that means a recall for Ollie Lawrence or a possible role for Earl at inside-centre – “that’s certainly something I’ve considered for this coming week” the head coach said – remains to be seen but there is a case for further backline experimentation before the All Blacks game.
Tommy Freeman is a wonderful player but, for the moment, still looks like a wing playing at centre and it was interesting to hear Roebuck modestly concede that, pace wise, the squad’s three quickest men are Cadan Murley, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Henry Arundell. With Marcus Smith also desperate for another chance, Borthwick will surely be tempted to tweak the formula slightly against the Fijians.
Yet whatever the coach decides, Pollock is now front and centre in the public imagination. Having bleached his hair a la Chelsea’s Alejandro Garnacho – “I saw Garnacho was dyeing his hair ages ago so I thought: ‘Yeah, why not?’” – he has an equally uncomplicated attitude when chances arise on the field. “I got the ball and then I obviously see the try line and think: ‘Shit, I’m in here.’” There is, in his view, “definitely more” to come from him and England. “We’re not just a team that can kick the ball and get the ball back. We want to be a team that can do everything.” If anyone can make it happen, he can.
