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The 'rare skill' Henry Pollock has as England camp expect bright future
By Josh Raisey at Twickenham Stoop Stadium, London
England A captain Fraser Dingwall believes his Northampton Saints team-mate Henry Pollock has shown all the signs of becoming an “unbelievable player” but has insisted that the 19-year-old flanker has “so much to grow in his game” after his player of the match performance in a 38-17 win over Australia A at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday.
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Sunday’s stellar showing in his first outing for England A was the latest step in a steep upwards career trajectory that already indicates that the teenager can reach the very top of the game.
Coached by his England U20 mentor Mark Mapletoft and captained by a fellow Saint, Pollock thrived in comprehensive victory, with both showering him in praise after the match.
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Only Tom Willis made more than Pollock’s 19 carries, only wingers Cadan Murley and Gabriel Ibitoye made more metres and only scrum-half Will Porter, fly-half Charlie Atkinson and centre Dingwall made more passes than him.
But his stats only tell half the tale as Mapletoft described him as a “highlight player”. These highlights included two rampaging runs down either wing, one of which he then distributed to Ibitoye, and a first-half scrap that showed the “fight” in him that Dingwall singled out.
With the Allianz Stadium towering in the background, Pollock left little doubt that his future lies across the road. But at 19, he clearly is not the finished article, and Dingwall feels people have to be “realistic” with him about where he is and how much he has to develop in his game.
“We’re all getting a bit sick of him winning these man of the match awards, to be honest!” Dingwall joked after the match.
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“He’s obviously a cracking player. He’d be the first to say he’s got so much to grow in his game as well and I think it’s really important that people are realistic with him around that.
“He’s got so much athleticism about him, he’s got such workrate, he’s got such fight about him which are pillars that can build someone into an unbelievable player. He’s very much a good player at the moment and I’m sure he’s going to kick on. It’s just about making sure he tracks along that path.”
Mapletoft added: “He’s just a highlight player. He’s got those pillars in terms of his physicality and workrate.
“The thing that impressed me most wasn’t necessarily all the man of the match bits that Henry’s picked up over the last 12 months- he probably by his own admission he didn’t have a great game last year against Scotland away, probably let the occasion get to him, but what he then did was just re-calibrated and went again. That’s a rare skill in a young player. He’d only just turned 19 at that point.
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“I think that ability when you’re on an upward curve and suddenly it’s chopped from underneath you. We’ve all been through that, we’ve all been through periods where you’re on the up then suddenly back, it’s like ‘I didn’t expect that.’ Then how we respond to that is a sign of someone that can keep progressing. If he gets the breaks at the right time, who knows? In the future we could see him wearing a senior England shirt.”
great player - but I think his future lies at 8.
I didn't see the game on Sunday, but every time I have seen him play his defensive workrate and positioning has looked an issue. If he's an 8, his attacking play and jackaling is more than enough to make up for that, but if he's a 7 he's going to limit who can be selected at 6 and 8, as there needs to be at least one really top drawer defender in the back row.
He's a fantastic player but he should be given a bit of time. Pushing him too hard, too fast could be detrimental. We already have a great 7 in Underhill, let Pollock stay with Northampton for a season and look at him again for the autumn internationals next year and then get him on a hybrid contract asap.