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Handre Pollard: 'I'm not going to be trying no-look cross-kicks any time soon'
By Bryn Palmer
If you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, they are certainly handy to have around to show the young pups a thing or two.
Not that Handre Pollard considers himself to be quite in the former category just yet.
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A double World Cup winner he may be, with 755 points harvested from 77 caps over the past decade since his Springboks debut.
But at still only 30, the next global gathering in Australia in 2027 – where South Africa will target an unprecedented third consecutive global crown – remains firmly on his horizon.
“Absolutely, that’s the goal for most of us in the squad,” says the second-highest points scorer in Boks history, who if he makes to the next RWC is likely to surpass Percy Montgomery’s record of 893. “I’m not one of the old dogs yet! I’m just experienced.”
Pollard may not start every Test anymore, with younger rivals like Manie Libbok and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu emerging as playmaking alternatives, but he remains an invaluable option for Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus.
That value was never more evident than during last year’s World Cup, when after missing the early stages through injury, he returned to steer them through those spine-tingling knockout stages, his clutch kicking pivotal to three successive one-point wins.
But it’s not simply a case of Libbok, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Jordan Hendrikse learning at the feet of the master. With South Africa expanding their attacking repertoire, Pollard is just as happy to see where he can add layers to his own game by watching the new generation.
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“Oh, absolutely,” he said as he chewed the fat before Sunday’s meeting with Scotland at Murrayfield, which he will start at No.10. “I think that’s a very important thing in the team. At times, it’s the trust to help each other. Listen, I’m not going to be trying no-look cross-kicks any time soon (referring to Libbok’s wondrous piece of skill to create a try for Kurt-Lee Arendse against Scotland in their RWC pool meeting last September).
“That’s not my thing. I don’t have that kind of skill-set. But I’m really enjoying looking at these guys like Manie and Sacha, who’s just coming through, with Jordan [Hendrikse] joining us now as well. These guys grew up in a different era and play the game and see the game so differently, which is nice. It keeps us on our toes. It keeps it fun for us. It’s not the same thing over and over again. We learn a lot from each other.”
Feinberg-Mngomezulu started the first three games of South Africa’s recent Rugby Championship triumph, Pollard the next two – he came off the bench in the other four – before Libbok returned at No.10 for the final, title-clinching victory over Argentina.
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Although injury will prevent Feinberg-Mngomezulu featuring in any of their forthcoming Tests against Scotland, England and Wales, Erasmus now has the luxury of a horses-for-courses approach depending on the opposition and strategy.
If it may be a stretch to suggest South Africa are trying to play more like Scotland, and the Scots more like the Boks, Pollard sees evolution in the games of both countries. The acquisition of former All Blacks fly-half Tony Brown as attack coach has given the Boks a new dimension, as they try to add layers of attacking subtlety to their trademark power.
South Africa scored 24 tries in their six Rugby Championship game, a seasoned squad open-minded to new possibilities without moving too far from their traditional strengths.
“I think there’s a lot of growth,” Pollard said. “The core of our game has been, of course, our defence, our physicality, our kicking game and all of that, and some exciting outside backs. But I think with Tony coming in, he’s starting to unlock something in our game.
“It’s going to take more time. As we go on, we’ll get better at it. But that’s where the growth is, I think, on attack and becoming a bit more – how can I put it? – just harder to analyse, so it’s not just a physical game.
“We’re going to want to show that we’ve got the skill-sets to do more things, and we’ll grow, and at times we’ll do more of it, and at times we’ll do less of it, but that’s where we want to grow as a team. That’s just unlocking everything we can and everything we have, because we’ve got a very good skill-set in our forwards and backs. They’re all known for their scrumming and their physicality and all that, but they’re very skilful rugby players as well, and I think it’s time we put that out there.”
Pollard says Brown, who previously worked with the Sunwolves and Japan national team in between two spells with the Highlanders, has brought a “completely different mindset”.
“It’s been brilliant. It’s been really refreshing and we’re enjoying it. We had a great foundation with Felix Jones over the four years we worked with him, and he was brilliant for us, great memories with him.
“We’re not getting it right every time, but we’re trying to expand a bit and play a bit more rugby on our terms. We’re not doing anything loose, but our forwards have a great skill-set and we didn’t really unlock that as much as we could have in the past. They’ve got a lot more to their game than just running over people.”
Not that they’re averse to that of course, when the mood takes them, which it invariably does.
But talk of expansive skillsets leads us onto Pollard’s opposite number on Sunday, Finn Russell. Having spent the last season and a bit with Leicester, Pollard is a big fan of the Bath maestro.
“Oh, Finn is an unreal rugby player,” he says. “I’ve played against him in the Top 14, internationals and now in the Premiership. He’s really fun to watch. I love watching him play rugby. It’s super exciting. He’s just got an unbelievable skill-set, and it’s so natural. It doesn’t even look hard, does it? But the great ones make it look that way.
“He’s world-class, absolutely. He’s in the top three fly-halves in the world, definitely.”
Asked who the other two might be, Pollard opts to name just one, an All Black currently not playing Test rugby while he continues a sabbatical in Japan.
“For me, I’m a (Richie) Mo’unga guy. He’s unreal. And then, of course, Finn. I mean, you get different styles of players as you go on, so it’s really hard to say. But those two are right up there.”
Although Scotland’s attacking flair was much in evidence with the eight tries they ran in against Fiji last Saturday, Pollard believes they have employed some tactical tweaks since failing to get past either the Springboks or Ireland in their 2023 World Cup pool.
“I think they initially went to a very attacking game two or three years ago, banking on that, and I think they tried that in the World Cup again,” he said. “Lately, if you look at the past Six Nations, they’ve started kicking a lot more. I think they’ve understood that that attacking part is great to have, and it’s nice, but you’ve got to have that kicking game and defence to back it up, and I think they’ve adapted their game.
“If you look at the way they’ve been kicking, the amount of kicks they use in the game now has gone up a lot. So I think there’s definitely something going on there. It’s still pretty new, so we’re trying to sort of figure it out now. We’ll see what happens. We’re prepared for everything, but we know if we give them anything loose, we’re going to be really chasing our tails, so we’ve got to be very sure.”
If his focus is on Scotland, England and Wales for the next couple of weeks – in case anyone thought different, he reiterates that South Africa “want to win every single game on tour this year” – Pollard will soon be faced with a decision over his own playing future.
Having joined Leicester in the summer of 2022 and helped them to second place in the Premiership after the first six rounds this term, he claims to have “no idea” where he will be playing his rugby next season. With his Tigers contract due to expire at the end of the campaign, a big-money offer from Tokyo Suntory Sungoliath in Japan is rumoured to be on the table.
“I know there’s a lot of stuff around, but nothing’s been done yet,” he added. “It’s pretty early. There’s still a long time to go; the season’s just started. I’m sure in the next couple of months we’ll sort that out and know what the future holds. For now, I have no idea.”
Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)
On the day, Finn Russell is the best flyhalf in the world.
Sure, Russell et Pollard have consistently shown their talent when playing in top14.
Huh... Wait...