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Pollard signs for Brumbies

Christian Leali'ifano of the Brumbies speaks to the crowd after the Super Rugby Quarter Final match between the Brumbies and the Sharks at GIO Stadium last season

The Brumbies have confirmed that highly-rated Australian U18 hooker Billy Pollard has committed to Rugby Australia and the Brumbies under a four-year contract with the club.

Pollard will join the Brumbies Academy Development Programme for 2020, including pre-season training time with the Plus500 Brumbies, alongside other Brumbies development players.

Pollard, who had attracted the attention of several high-profile NRL clubs throughout his formative career, has chosen rugby union after a series of strong performances, culminating in a standout display for the young Wallabies in their win over New Zealand.

Playing in the front row, Pollard showed great speed and determination to go the length of the field in the U18 Test match, hauled down just short of the line, a snapshot of the pace, skill and potential that he possesses.

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“We are extremely happy to have signed Billy, who we believe is a player with enormous potential,” Plus500 Brumbies Head Coach Dan McKellar commented.

“Like any 18-year-old hooker, Billy is just getting started, but he has the necessary attributes to succeed at Super Rugby level and is very much in the mould of the modern-day hooker.

“In attack he is dynamic, wants the ball in his hands and has tremendous speed and acceleration for a front rower. Defensively he is abrasive and aggressive, loves to compete and enjoys the physical side of the game. These are great natural traits that Billy has.

https://twitter.com/BrumbiesRugby/status/1194344519199789058

“We are excited to work closely with Billy over the next few years to ensure he reaches his full potential and goes on to have a long career with our club.”

Pollard had a choice of a number of clubs, across both codes, but ultimately picked the Brumbies due to their proven track-record of improving young players and giving them a chance to express their talent.

“I am very excited to be able to sign for the Brumbies,” Pollard said of his deal. “The club is well-known for giving young players an opportunity and helping them to develop in their career.

“I am looking forward to working with Dan and Laurie [Fisher] and learning off some of the best front row forwards in the country. The Brumbies set-piece is one of the best around and I can’t wait to get started.”

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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