Last Friday evening, at the academy house in Northampton, Henry Pollock and a couple of his young team-mates gathered around the TV to watch Luke Littler. They threw a few darts of their own, caught in the hysteria as the boy from Warrington was crowned king at just 17.
Another week, another teen sensation grabbing the headlines. Much like Moses Itauma in the boxing ring in Saudi Arabia, or Ethan Nwaneri in the Arsenal midfield, Littler showed the fearlessness of youth in the next generation of English sports stars.
In the rugby world, England’s Under 20 World Cup winners are demonstrating their own prowess at senior level. Pollock is one of the shining lights, invited down to Twickenham this week by Steve Borthwick, who has one eye on the not-too-distant future.
He has already established himself in Northampton’s senior ranks and is set to feature against Stade Francais in Saturday’s Champions Cup tie in Paris. Full international honours, it seems, is only a matter of time.
‘Watching Littler do what he did at his age was pretty mad,’ says Pollock, 19, settling into a suite at Franklin’s Gardens. ‘We wanted to go along to Ally Pally to watch but it didn’t really align with our game time. There’s a lot of talent coming through – darts, boxing, football – it’s exciting.
‘Last year was so special for us. That group we had in the Under 20s, winning the Six Nations in Pau, that was the first time playing in front of a packed-out crowd that doesn’t like you. It was pretty cool.
Henry Pollock is one of the new generation aiming to break into Steve Borthwick’s England side
Pollock said it was ‘mad’ watching Luke Littler becoming darts world champion aged just 17
Pollock helped England win the Under-20 Six Nations last year and is targeting a senior call-up
‘We really did have a one in, all in attitude. There was a fire. It was high-achieving group, Junior Kpoku starting for Racing, Asher Opoku-Fordjour making his debut for England in the autumn, Afo Fasogbon playing for Gloucester and waving off Ellis Genge. You’ve got Arch McParland here at Northampton, Billy Sela at Bath, Ben Redshaw playing full 80s for Newcastle, Kepu Tuipulotu making his debut against us last weekend.
‘The pathway system for English rugby is shining. You can look back four or five years, Romain Ntamack’s French team doing the back-to-back World Cup for the Under 20s. That year group is now the best in the world. If all goes well, that 20s group we had, it’s only really up from here…’
Pollock has not arrived quietly. He is a whooping, collar-grabbing, all-action back-row who backs up the noise with carries, tackles and turnovers. He was mentored by former England and Saints skipper Dylan Hartley as a schoolboy at Stowe, sharing a similar appetite for confrontation.
‘Dylan basically said, “When you come to Saints, don’t give a f*** about who people are, just go and sit at the back next to Courtney Lawes and all the big dogs”.
‘I looked at him and said, “That’s not going to work”. He said “if it’s not going to work, you’re not in the right place”. I said, “But I’ll get beaten up” and he said “Well yeah, you’ve got to get beaten up a little bit”.’
So did he sit at the back of the meeting room? ‘No! I sat at the front like a little goody two shoes. I guess the thing to take on board was just be yourself, don’t go into your shell. He was a good role model to have because I guess he’s done alright.’
Pollock talks as he plays. The words reel off his tongue at machine-gun speed, occasionally stopping to catch a breath. He is a high-energy human; a trait that can be traced back to his childhood years spent running triathlons on cold winter’s mornings.
‘My childhood was very, very sporty,’ he explains. ‘I went to a very nice prep school and did all the sports there. Swimming, running I had a really good fitness baseline that gives you that aerobic advantage. My mum went pretty hard at the modern pentathlon – horses, shooting, running – but she had to give up before the Olympics when she became pregnant with my sister. I did the triathlon national champs when I was really young, 13 or 14.
Pollock is an all-action back-row and backs up the noise with carries, tackles and turnovers
He was mentored by ex-England and Saints skipper Dylan Hartley while a schoolboy at Stowe
Pollock has an affinity to combat sports and admires UFC stars like Israel Adesanya
New Zealand’s explosive star Ardie Savea was named as a one of Pollock’s rugby idols
‘It’s a mental battle. It’s a hard sport. I did the Eton Dorney one when I was 13. I did pretty well at that. Mass start, running into the water, shivering because it’s freezing cold. It was fun. Maybe when I retire it would be cool to do a couple of Ironman events. There’s a couple they do in Hawaii which are so hot and so humid.
‘Maybe the Marathon des Sables in Morocco… running through the desert, seven days and seven nights, the only thing with you is your own thoughts. That would be pretty cool. That feeling of pain and then the relief afterwards, that’s the reason you do it. I’ve always had that mindset.’
Pollock has a fighter’s mindset. Rather than Littler’s eye for a double 10 or Nwaneri’s ability to cut in from the wing, the Northampton youngster has a more natural affinity to combat sports.
‘I like the way they carry themselves in UFC. I’m looking forward to the fight between Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov, from Dagestan. Some of those guys almost talk themselves to victory. I grew up watching Conor McGregor. He’s gone a bit off the rails now but I watched a lot of him early in his career, before all of the court cases.
‘He dominated that sport and made it something so new. All the talk, the swagger, turning up in a Rolls Royce and chatting shit. He didn’t care what people thought or what people said about them, he just talked it into existence and backed it up in the cage.
‘I’m reading The Law of Attraction, about how you can talk your thoughts into existence. It’s about visualising yourself doing stuff and visualising it into existence. For our match against Stade this weekend, maybe I’d visualise something like the No 8 running down your channel, getting in the headspace to do the action before it’s happened. I’m playing around with that at the moment.’
His rugby idol? ‘On the international stage, Ardie Savea is someone who I see at the top of the game in the back row. He’s explosive, he’s everything you want in that loose forward area. Those players that never really go away, like Michael Hooper or David Pocock. That’s something I’m trying to work towards, being that nuisance, everywhere on the pitch.
‘I’m not someone who will shy away from confrontation. Just because I’m 19, I’m not going to not show myself. I put 100% into everything I do, never taking a backwards step. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, you don’t.’
Pollock was man of the match on his England A debut and clashed with Australia’s Tom Hooper
Pollock says playing for England is the ‘big goal of the year’ after been invited to Twickenham
Helping Northampton Saints win back-to-back Premiership titles is another key ambition
Pollock was named man of the match on his debut for England A in November, whipping the scrum cap off the head of his opposite man, Australia flanker Tom Hooper, in the process.
England have a depth of back-row resources – Tom Willis seems next in line to breakthrough – and the chances are that Pollock could debut against Argentina on the summer tour, while Lions players are in Australia.
‘Playing for England is the big goal of this year,’ he says. ‘Going down to Twickenham this week, it was very cool, meeting all the coaches and the best players in the country. I’ve just got to play well for Northampton and hopefully the coaches see it. As a young kid coming in at Saints, they don’t shy away from putting you in the deep end. That’s what Saints go after. That gives you confidence.
‘It definitely hasn’t been easy, the turnarounds between senior games, you can underestimate how much it takes its toll on your body. I’m young so my body is still functioning but you see the older guys who have been doing it for 10 years and how they listen to their body. Everyone can say that playing for your country is the top. If I look 10 years ahead, Lions is up there. All those things you wanted to do as a kid. That fight doesn’t go away.’
As he swaggers out of the suite at Franklin’s Gardens, Pollock eyes up the giant photograph of the Saints team that won the Premiership last season. Champagne bottles and ski goggles. ‘I missed that,’ he says. ‘I was in Georgia with the 20s.’
Has it inspired his generation to do it all again? ‘Definitely’ he answers, with all the confidence of a teenager who has not put a foot wrong. ‘Back-to-back?
