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'I'm not really too sure why the surprise' over Henry Pollock

Henry Pollock arrives for England A duty in London last November (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)

Mark Mapletoft has backed his selection of Henry Pollock to start for the England U20s this Thursday in Ireland after his short involvement with Steve Borthwick’s Test squad.

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The World Rugby U20 Championship title winner has enjoyed a super-charged 2024/25 season, becoming a regular Northampton pick (eight starts in 14 appearances) and starring for England A in November’s runaway win over Australia A in London.

It was January 21, seven days after his 20th birthday, when the back-rower was one of five additional players called up by Borthwick for his squad’s Guinness Six Nations preparations in Girona, but Pollock has now re-routed and his destination in Ireland will be Cork this Thursday for the U20s fixture and not Dublin for Saturday’s Test match.

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Maro Itoje speaks at the Men’s Six Nations launch in Rome

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    Maro Itoje speaks at the Men’s Six Nations launch in Rome

    England captain Maro Itoje spoke to the media at the official Guinness Men’s Six Nations launch event in Rome and at the Colosseum.

    Asked if it was a surprise that he was able to select Pollock for the age-grade campaign opener at Virgin Media Park, Mapletoft said: “Henry is technically an U20 player and probably one of the better back-rowers at his age group in the county, so I am not really too sure why the surprise.

    “Would you be more surprised if he wasn’t selected? There must be some very good players out there if he is not picked.”

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    Mapletoft was hugely pleased that Pollock had his senior squad taster under Borthwick in Spain that past week after being heavily involved with Phil Dowson’s Northampton this winter, even though its consequence was to massively limit his involvement with the England U20s.

    “It has been a challenge but a player’s priority is when they are playing at first-team level and getting training opportunities with the seniors,” reasoned the head coach about his up-and-coming player who was pivotal to England’s Six Nations/World Championship U20s double title success in 2024.

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    “It is difficult to balance that out but look, Henry has been in and around this group now for a long time. Tom (Burrow, the captain) and Henry toured South Africa together in summer 2022. A lot of these players know each other through the pathway.

    “Henry has been part of our 20s group for the last 12 months plus and he just fits in. We back him, great guy, great energy, and his performances this season for Saints have been excellent.”

    About Pollock’s England Test squad call, Mapletoft added: “Brilliant for our young lads to get those training opportunities. That’s part of an integrated pathway. The pathway doesn’t have a start or an end point, it’s a continuous period in a person’s development and Steve made that decision to give him those training opportunities.

    “It’s brilliant but look, if he is not playing for the England senior team this week he is technically still U20 and is available.”

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    Comments

    1 Comment
    a
    af 17 days ago

    Why are a number of players from last year's successful team and who remain eligible no longer in the set up?

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    J
    JW 2 hours ago
    France player ratings vs England | 2025 Six Nations

    Sorry my delivery on that joke was a bit bland. But to reply to the couple of good points you make, to me it just seemed like they had no plan with why Gatland was staying on. I mean the plan seemed to be “just get us a win against Italy and we can continue on as we are”, which is just terrible if that’s what Gatland was trying to achieve for Wales imo.


    Did it just happen to be Italy that he saw his team weren’t able to achieve his vision of success? I mean Italy are a very good side so its by no means a lost cause to not look like world beaters. Sure his focus should have been on more transient factors like growth and style for a full rebuild, not trying to avoid the wooden spoon.


    Which brings me to you main point, that would be exactly what the benefit of dropping down a tier would be. A chance to really implement something, get good at it, then take it up a level again once you’re ready. Even for Italy it must have been an incredibly brutal environment to have been trying to develop as a side.


    Not saying of course that the other EU teams would be any better, but it might be better for everyone if say ‘years of tough losses’ are shared between countries, rather than see Wales go through this journey two, three, possible four years in a row. Of course the main reason they don’t want to miss just one 6N season is because it would probably tank the game in their country missing out on all that revenue. I have always said they should look at widening the revenue share, there are plenty of competitions that have systems to keep bottom teams competitive, and the 6N would only make more money if it was a tierd competition with prom/rel.

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