With a little over two minutes to play, Pollock provoked the Paris crowd by over-celebrating what England thought was the winning try to centre Tommy Freeman. He jumped on Freeman’s back, cupping an ear and miming “shush” to the noisy crowd who had previously been singing the national anthem and, earlier, had booed Pollock’s entry to the game from the bench.
Daniel Schofield, from England’s Daily Telegraph, wrote in Pollock’s defence that “the suggestion he should have reined in his celebrations is po-faced in the extreme … this is a 21-year-old celebrating the 13th try of an astonishing game. Do you really expect him just to give Freeman a slap on the back when he is practically bursting with adrenaline … A little shush to the lips is payback for the pelters he was getting throughout the match”.
England’s Henry Pollock celebrates after securing a turnover against the All Blacks. Photo / Brad Roberts
Oh, please. Let’s ignore media fastening on a contentious figure to gain clicks and focus on the real issue: Pollock is about as far away from being a class test player as Twickenham is from my backyard. That’s what earns him stick from fans and some players. He’s just 21, yes, and hasn’t done anything of note yet – but acts like he has.
Pollock played about half an hour off the bench against France. In that time, he achieved almost nothing. Two brief carries, plenty of seagulling around rucks, waving protesting arms at assistant refs and much bobbing of blond quiff. Chandler Cunningham-South came on late in the match and, in two minutes of headlong charges, achieved more than Pollock had in the previous 20, helping to create Freeman’s try.
Pollock did make a terrific tackle on Antoine Dupont with about 90 seconds to go, stealing the ball. It should have allowed England, 46-45 ahead at that point, to run the clock down and win. However, he ran and tried to offload. France regathered and won the penalty to win the match.
“Cost us the game,” keyboard warriors bellowed. To be fair, England panicked and you could aim that dart at three other players – halfback Jack van Poortvliet, whose kick gave the ball to France just before Pollock’s tackle; wing Caden Murley, who fly-kicked Pollock’s attempted offload instead of falling on it and sealing possession; and skipper Maro Itoje’s head-high tackle which earned the final penalty.
Pollock’s real crime was his anonymity earlier as England set up what should have been Freeman’s winning score – and his excessive celebrations. He was the lone England player who followed Freeman towards the crowd, celebrating overlong, as if he was somehow responsible or involved, making his ears and lips gestures to the crowd while teammates prepared to defend their slender lead.
To many rugby people – and maybe Daniel Schofield just doesn’t twig this – that is glory-seeking, pure and simple: engaging ego, not the brain, seeking attention. As Pollock is such a polarising figure, TV directors ensure the camera is often on him. Fans see the Pollock eyes slip away to watch himself on the big screen. That’s when lips begin to curl – even more so when England lose a game they should have won, Pollock helping to lose it.
To those who say rugby needs players like him for entertainment, I say … huh? I mean, he’s just been a nonentity in one of the most entertaining tests ever and you don’t need to be an egotist to be interesting. Give me people like Siya Kolisi, Richie McCaw, Sean Fitzpatrick and Ilona Maher any day. The first three did it with leadership, mana and the art of winning, Maher, a new-ager who also uses social media but without turning herself into a pork chop.
It may be Pollock turns out to be a very good or even great player – God knows, he has talent. At present, however, he looks like he was promoted from Under-20s too soon and has become some sort of marketing device (many would argue more for self than country). It also looks like he may not quite understand that if you play the villain regularly, you are regularly abused.
Not many elite sports careers survive that. He needs to pull his head in and earn his stripes. Without that, he risks only ever being a distraction – the rugby equivalent of tennis player Anna Kournikova, a media and internet darling famous solely for her looks.
Not for her tennis. She never won anything but amassed an estimated US$50m through endorsements. ESPN ranked her 18th in the “Biggest Sports Flops of the Past 25 Years”. That’s Pollock’s poser – sporting legacy or shallow (but lucrative) sidelines?
Paul Lewis writes about rugby, cricket, league, football, yachting, golf, the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.