{"id":486446,"date":"2026-02-17T20:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/486446\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T20:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:28:08","slug":"england-turn-to-henry-pollock-in-bid-to-banish-murrayfield-blues-six-nations-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/486446\/","title":{"rendered":"England turn to Henry Pollock in bid to banish Murrayfield blues | Six Nations 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

A week can be a long time in the Six Nations, never mind in politics. One minute England are contemplating title showdowns in Paris, the next they face a must-win game against Ireland to remain in contention. A swift riposte to the defeat in Scotland<\/a> last weekend is required urgently and Steve Borthwick\u2019s team selection reflects the management\u2019s desire for a significant gear change.<\/p>\n

It has clearly played straight into the hands of Henry Pollock, whose ambition to start for England is about to be realised after seven caps off the bench. His promotion reflects the need to re-energise all involved in the Murrayfield meltdown, as does the starting return of Tom Curry and Ollie Lawrence, Tommy Freeman\u2019s shift back to the wing and Marcus Smith\u2019s bench resurrection.<\/p>\n

There could easily have been further changes. Borthwick\u2019s first instinct is to give his players the benefit of the doubt but even he hesitated after the experience of last Saturday. \u201cThere are players in the team this week who are playing because I\u2019m backing them to put in a performance that they\u2019ll want to put in after last week,\u201d the head coach said, slightly ominously.<\/p>\n

He did not name names, saying only that he had \u201chad a lot of conversations with players not selected who are very, very disappointed\u201d. Several, presumably, will come roaring into the frame if there is no instant reaction to the 31-20 loss in Edinburgh. While one defeat would not normally prompt an extreme team-sheet makeover, the nature of the Calcutta Cup debacle has clearly shaken England\u2019s coaches wide awake.<\/p>\n

If you really want your side to rebound spectacularly who better to whistle up than the ball of energy that is Pollock, the irrepressible Tigger to Borthwick\u2019s less excitable Eeyore. The first time the pair met was at Franklin\u2019s Gardens in Northampton when Borthwick paid a visit to meet Saints\u2019 posse of international wannabes. \u201cI was stood in the car park and this bundle of energy just bounced up to me. Typically when an 18-year-old meets the England head coach for the first time they are usually on the shy and retiring side. The first thing he said was: \u2018How are you, mate?\u2019 I thought: \u2018Right, you\u2019re different.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Borthwick was also struck by Pollock\u2019s match-clinching jackal off the bench in a crucial Champions Cup pool game against Munster 13 months ago, never mind the back-rower\u2019s spectacular try \u2013 and subsequent \u201cpulse check\u201d celebration \u2013 against Leinster in Dublin last May. The net result is that Pollock, now 21, has been picked to wear the No 8 jersey with Ben Earl, England\u2019s most consistent player in this championship to date, shifting to seven. In some respects it changes precious little with Borthwick keen to stick to the blueprint of picking three No 7s. At the same time, though, it gives Pollock a little extra licence to roam.<\/p>\n

Out on the wide outside is where English rugby\u2019s young tyro can be an absolute nightmare for unwary defenders, particularly on the shoulder of someone such as Freeman. England lost out aerially against Scotland but this time it takes scant imagination to foresee George Ford hoisting the ball towards Freeman\u2019s wing with Pollock sniffing for any juicy loose balls. There have been few English forwards, aside perhaps from Tom Croft, with Pollock\u2019s searing pace and poacher\u2019s instinct.<\/p>\n

Tom Curry returns to the starting XV for England in their match against Ireland. Photograph: Jamie Johnston\/Focus Images Ltd\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Nor will he be afflicted by big game nerves. As he said last month<\/a>: \u201cI don\u2019t look at a challenge and think \u2018what if?\u2019 or \u2018what could go wrong?\u2019\u201d It was the same when he went to Leinster last year. \u201cI wasn\u2019t going into the stadium feeling nervous about playing against Josh van der Flier or Jack Conan. I was just so excited to show the world who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ireland, naturally, will have a different scenario in mind. Slow down England\u2019s ball, stop them at the gain-line and force them into a slugfest and Pollock and co will have less time and scope to moonlight out wide. Having coached the British & Irish Lions in Australia last year, Andy Farrell has also had a closeup look at several England players and knows exactly where their strengths and weaknesses lie.<\/p>\n

That said, Farrell is a massive admirer of Curry and also backed Freeman as a Lions Test starter. He may also wince slightly at the return of the fit-again Lawrence to add more midfield punch and recall what happened the last time Smith played against Ireland at Twickenham.<\/p>\n

On that occasion it was Smith\u2019s dramatic late drop-goal which saw England home 23-22 after they had been 12-8 down at the interval. Ireland are supposedly more vulnerable these days but that was the widespread view about Scotland this time last week. While Henry Arundell, having avoided a ban after his Murrayfield red card, will be keen for a less stressful afternoon this time that cannot be guaranteed.<\/p>\n

From Borthwick\u2019s perspective, either way, the stage is set for Pollock to bounce England out of their Scottish introspection. \u201cI will challenge him to express himself, be himself and bring what gets people jumping up and down with joy,\u201d said the head coach. As Winnie-the-Pooh\u2019s old mate would say: \u201cThe most wonderful thing about Tiggers, is I\u2019m the only one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A week can be a long time in the Six Nations, never mind in politics. One minute England…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-486446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}