{"id":750853,"date":"2026-06-21T13:00:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/750853\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T13:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T13:00:11","slug":"comment-sensational-henry-pollock-lives-up-to-the-hype-in-northamptons-prem-rugby-final-triumph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/750853\/","title":{"rendered":"Comment: ‘Sensational’ Henry Pollock lives up to the hype in Northampton’s PREM Rugby Final triumph"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Barbarians<\/a><\/p>\n

He turned up in pink boots and trademark rat tail and left with the gleaming Gallagher PREM trophy as player of a pulsating final.<\/p>\n

Henry Pollock divides opinion like no other rugby player. A \u2018Marmite\u2019 character we would have said back in the days when concentrated yeast extract was all the rage.<\/p>\n

This is a man who an opponent saw fit to grab by the throat at the end of the last final he played in, for no good reason. A guy who, despite being on the losing side that day, was still being mocked by the opposition days later.<\/p>\n

Such ability to attract attention is what appealed to Eddie Hearns when the boxing promoter signed him to his Matchroom Talent Agency in March, promising to turn him into a multi-millionaire superstar.<\/p>\n

Yet when the 21-year old made a fool of himself at Leicester soon after, picking fights and shadow boxing with a guy who would cheerfully have knocked him into tomorrow, he appeared to have taken a wrong turn from asset into liability.<\/p>\n

Had that Henry Pollock<\/a> turned up at Allianz Stadium his Northampton Saints<\/a> team might very well have lost again. That he bore no resemblance to the Welford Road version explains why they did not.<\/p>\n

\u2018The blond number eight was a revelation\u2019<\/p>\n

In glorious June sunshine, the blond number eight was a revelation in Saints\u2019 26-17 win. It was his jackal turnover which ended a 25-phase attack three minutes from time that threatened to take Exeter to an unlikely win.<\/p>\n

But he was so much more than a one-hit wonder. His bottomless energy and drive, on both sides of the ball, throughout one of the warmest afternoons of the year, drove Saints to glory.<\/p>\n

He carried 19 times and made 18 tackles. He was both wrecking ball and momentum giver. And two years after missing Northampton\u2019s last title win due to England U20 commitments he promised to make up for lost time.<\/p>\n

Northampton v Exeter: Five takeaways as PREM Rugby Final delivers much-needed \u2018riposte\u2019 while Saints stalwart gets \u2018fairytale\u2019 ending<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe plans for tonight? Anything and everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Northampton arrived at Twickenham vowing to take a leaf from England\u2019s book at the FIFA World Cup and stay true to their attacking selves despite the high stakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we are going to go down we want to go down swinging,\u201d second-row Alex Coles said in the build-up. \u201cPlaying our Saints\u2019 way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet it was grunt rather than pyrotechnics that won them the day once reality dawned on them they would lose the final if they continued to lose the gain line.<\/p>\n

Saints might have taken the lead after just 110 seconds after Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Olly Woodburn got in each other\u2019s way and Tommy Freeman scored his 18th try of the season to tie Noah Caluori as the league\u2019s arch predator.<\/p>\n

But Chiefs\u2019 response was so physical, so uncompromising, so bloody-minded, that with an hour gone they led and Saints were battered and bruised from punishment meted out by the likes of Greg Fisilau, Len Ikitau and Ethan Roots.<\/p>\n

With Archie McParland off injured, Fin Smith having been almost cut in half by a fearsome hit from Roots and Saints behind on the scoreboard, something needed to change. Step forward Pollock.<\/p>\n

It was at this moment we thought back to Welford Road and, more pertinently, the way people close to the back-row tyro spelt it out to him that his total loss of composure was unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u2018The penny has dropped\u2019<\/p>\n

Since that day six weeks ago the England man has been on a different level. The penny has dropped. The warning from Hearn of \u2018how can I say you\u2019re the best thing since sliced bread if you are not performing\u2019 has registered.<\/p>\n

Northampton player ratings: Henry Pollock haters humbled as \u2018ferocious\u2019 star delivers \u2018trademark\u2019 performance and bench provides \u2018bulletproof\u2019 defence<\/a><\/p>\n

When Leicester came to Franklin\u2019s Gardens for the semi-final last week, Pollock made 26 carries. He brought both the power and the glory. Frankly, he was sensational.<\/p>\n

Saints needed more from where that came from here and the former Stowe schoolboy delivered in spades.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

George Hendy\u2019s two tries in four minutes shortly after the third quarter water break had opened a nine-point lead but Exeter were refusing to go quietly.<\/p>\n

For seven minutes they laid siege to the Saints\u2019 red zone. For seven long minutes Pollock and team-mates repelled them. In that period, they made 48 tackles and conceded zero points.<\/p>\n

Saints said they would do it for George Furbank, their much-loved departing fullback. They pledged a performance, too, for defence coach Lee Radford, who is also leaving the Gardens. They were true to their word.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a dream,\u201d Pollock said later. \u201cThese moments, in the biggest game on the biggest stage, for your boyhood club. It\u2019s what you dream of as a little kid. And it\u2019s everything I imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Northampton Saints reveal grand celebration plans as \u2018fantastic atmosphere\u2019 expected following title win<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He turned up in pink boots and trademark rat tail and left with the gleaming Gallagher PREM trophy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,1379,165499,818,44,39992,20248,760,85],"class_list":["post-750853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-features","tag-henry-pollock","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-northampton-saints","tag-premiership","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750853","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=750853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}