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Handre Pollard responds to incredible personal stat that led to World Cup glory
By Josh Raisey
Handre Pollard did not play a huge amount at the World Cup, but when the fly-half was on the pitch, he made it count.
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Having not even been in the initial 33-man squad for South Africa, the Leicester Tigers No10 only started two matches in the entire campaign after being called up to replace Malcolm Marx- against Tonga and the final against the All Blacks. But along the way there were some crucial cameos from the bench as well, none more so than his player of the match performance against England in the semi-final.
South Africa are made for knockout rugby, and Pollard seems suited more than most. As the Springboks won their final three matches all by a solitary point, it was the boot of Pollard that proved to be the decisive factor. In fact, the 29-year-old finished the tournament with a stat that summed up what a clutch player he is- he had a 100 percent kicking record at the Stade de France.
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It was four from four in Paris in the final as the Boks won 12-11, while Richie Mo’unga and Jordie Barrett left five points out there with wayward kicks. Added to some equally clutch kicks in the quarter-final and semi-final at the Stade de France, that is quite an incredible stat for the fly-half. The person who seems least impressed though is Pollard himself, who was fairly blasé about the feat after the match.
“When you are actually out on the field it is pretty normal, it’s just rugby, man,” the two-time World Cup winner said.
“Once you are in the cathedral you just get going and trust your process. The trust the guys have in myself and the trust I have in them… if you miss it, it’s not the end of the world for us, we don’t see it that way.
“There’s not a lot going on, it’s pretty simple, to be honest.
“For me now, it will be remembered as a nice place to kick. Not all stadiums are like that unfortunately. I will have fond memories of this place for sure.”
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He’s a class act thank you Pollard
If you wanna play in Texas you gotta have a fiddler in the band. If wanna play in WC you gotta take Pollard outa the stand …..
and play him.
Lesson learnt
Handre is a warrior - his face tells the story. Real leadership qualities - calm, organising his side, very very hard to rattle - always has played at a very high level since high school
He had a lot of hype behind him when he started out, and at first I thought he was over rated. Happy to admit I was wrong.