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Fraser Dingwall glad the ‘real’ Henry Pollock has changed opinions
By Jon Newcombe
Fraser Dingwall admits that Northampton team-mate Henry Pollock coming off the bench to score twice on his Test debut in a record win for England over Wales was standard for a player who seems to write his own scripts.
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Player of the Match more often than not for the U20s, a Premiership debut in the cauldron of an East Midlands derby, scoring on his Champions Cup bow against Castres … the irrepressible flanker with the mop of blonde hair, officer-like accent and confident swagger is the closest rugby has to a comic book hero of a bygone age but with a social media presence befitting a modern superstar-in-the-making.
Pollock is no ordinary 20-year-old, and Dingwall is glad that people outside of the Saints environment are getting to know, and love, the young man who is never far away from a camera, or a highlights reel.
“For him to go and bag a couple of tries, it kind of seemed very fitting for Henry to be honest, it didn’t really surprise me,” the England centre said.
“When he scored, I was kind of like, ‘Of course he did’. He seems like one of those people who is going to constantly have these kinds of things.”
Saints’ non-nonsense northern defence coach Lee Radford has jokingly likened Pollock to a character on Instagram called Monty, who depicts the classic posh rugby boy stereotype.
However, Dingwall is delighted that Pollock’s senior England call-up has enabled people to get to know the man behind the myth properly.
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“Because with the media focus and all the stuff throughout his age grade rugby, he hasn’t always come across – to other people and other players – in the best light. But to see people get to know him and realise that he is actually a really good guy and how he comes across isn’t always how he intends, it’s been quite funny for us,” he said.
“I think for a long time people in the squad thought he was going to be a bit of an idiot but he came in and they actually really liked him, and now understand why we were saying the whole time, ‘No, no, he isn’t like that, you need to meet him.’
“That is part of the whole funny bit, and all of the enjoyment you saw when he scored (v Wales) was that all coming out basically. We were buzzing for him. He feels basically like a little brother for a lot of us in the squad. I am really happy for him.”
Dingwall captains Saints in the Premiership for the 18th time when Saints take on Leicester at Franklin’s Gardens tonight, while Pollock will be hoping to make as big an impact off the bench as he has so often done for club and country.
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With seven league games to go, the reigning Premiership champions are nine points behind Leicester, who currently occupy the final play-off spot. Leicester have won four of the last six league meetings, including a 24-8 win at Welford Road in October.
“We’re in a position where we need to win as many games as possible so we don’t have a choice around how we want to turn up, which is really exciting for the team,” Dingwall said.
“If we get a bit of a roll on, starting this Friday, it could be a really exciting run-in.”
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