Henry Pollock has some rather vocal critics, not that it bothers him much.
Not long ago, the Northampton star was a mere academy prodigy. When Saints last ventured to Twickenham in search of PREM Rugby glory, he was in the stands watching, having made a small handful of first-team appearances. Now, though, he is very much the poster boy of English rugby.
‘People can talk all they want’
But with that comes criticism. And he certainly gets his fair share of that.
The focus often goes onto his antics away from the nuts and bolts of rugby; try celebrations, a recent partnership with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom agency, or even just posting TikTok’s with England teammates, he often finds himself in the social media firing line. But it doesn’t bother him at all.
“People can talk all they want,” said Pollock.
“I’ve always said throughout my career, I don’t listen to the outside noise, I don’t listen to people’s opinions. I’m very much locked in on my role in my team.
“We can have all these opinions about me, but I’m just trying to focus on what I do.
“At the end of the day, it’s white noise; it doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t go into my brain.
“You can keep talking all you want, but we’ll keep winning trophies.”
‘You want to be the person who steps up’
As he says, he’ll just keep winning trophies. He’s earning them, too, with Pollock arguably in career-best form right now.
The back-rower was named Man of the Match in Saints’ PREM Rugby final win over Exeter Chiefs yesterday (Saturday, 20 June), becoming the youngest player ever to win the Peter Deakin Medal in the process, which also followed some outright blockbusters against Leicester Tigers, Gloucester and Bristol Bears on the road to the title as well.
“You want to be the person who steps up in these big games, put your hand up, go forward and push the team with you. I’m very fortunate that I was able to do that today, and I had a great team around me.
“This team is all about freedom, allowing you to play with freedom and play what’s in front of you. I’m just loving my time here and enjoying every moment.
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“I’ve been at the club for three years. Every single day, there’s a strive to get better and fulfil your full potential. That’s so key in an environment where you want to get better each day and have players pushing you (to get better) around you.”
His form in recent weeks has also coincided with a shift to number eight, starting both the semi-final victory and the subsequent win at Twickenham in that spot.
In those two games combined, Pollock has made 40 carries, 160 metres, 27 tackles and two turnovers; but even with big numbers like this, the back-rower feels it was very much his desire to lead from the front that helped him perform.
“I haven’t changed anything; it’s more of a mindset thing,” he said. “These are the games you want to step up in, semi-finals and finals.
“You want to be one of those boys who steps up, and we had a lot of them today.”
His form in these two big games has likely seen him catapulted into the conversation for a starting shirt with England this summer, something he has done just once in his 10 Test appearances for the national side, and importantly against the Springboks too.
In that frame, against the back-to-back world champions and the side ranked number one in the global rankings, he is very much relishing the chance in whatever role he is used in.
“(I’m) relishing it massively,” he said. “We’ve got three big, big Test matches. The Six Nations didn’t go our way, and we’re still hurting from that, but I’m really excited to get back into camp and be with the boys.
“There’s no bigger challenge than going to South Africa and playing away, at altitude in one of the biggest stadiums in the world. It’s the things you dream of; today was a dream, and hopefully that will be another memory to lock away.
“These Tests are the ones you want to play in. You want to go away and play against the best in the world.”
Pollock certainly has his critics, but it’s not getting to him in the slightest. If anything, he’s only defying his haters with every appearance.