Whatever you say about Henry Pollock — about his energy and his confidence, about him whipping his shorts off after the final whistle and passing them into the Twickenham crowd — he makes things happen on a rugby field. He is always in the game.
A lot of people prefer their rugby players a bit less showy, but I don’t care. I’ve always said that the best rugby players are those who affect the outcome of the game. And every time I’ve watched Pollock for the past 18 months, he has done something to positively affect the outcome in the game. In a first home victory over New Zealand since 2012, he was at it again.
He won a turnover penalty, another penalty off the scrum and then kicked through for the match-sealing try. It was a sensational cameo. He is still only 20. He just oozes confidence and, as a consequence, he makes things happen. Long may it continue.
Pollock shows his footballing skills in the build-up to the Roebuck try that sealed the outcome in England’s favour
ALEX DAVIDSON /RFU/GETTY IMAGES
Of course, it’s not just Pollock. There were heroes all over the place: Alex Coles was outstanding, Tom Roebuck was superb, Ben Earl was fantastic again and Sam Underhill, having been robbed of a try against the All Blacks in 2018, finally got the score he deserved, part of a performance of real quality.
So too George Ford. He is maybe the biggest winner of the past 12 months. A year ago, he was hitting the post with a drop-goal and ultimately slipping out of the 23 entirely. Now look at him: he was exemplary in Argentina in the summer, and now he is retaining the shirt, orchestrating a victory against the All Blacks.
But Pollock’s character is indicative of the buzz running right through the England squad. When Steve Borthwick took over as head coach, those close to him said that he would give the group clarity and identity. Over the past year, we’ve seen that more with every game. The team know how they want to play. They have momentum and identity and there is an acknowledgment now that if you don’t play well — an eight or nine out of ten — then you will be replaced. That is the mark of any successful side.
Pollock with tennis player Emma Raducanu and actor Simone Ashley
DAN MULLAN/GETTY IMAGES
Let’s be clear, this is not a vintage All Blacks team. They lack the cohesiveness that England have now clearly developed. Eddie Jones this week said that Borthwick’s side were 12 months further on in their development than the Kiwis. This year they’ve already lost to Argentina, who England face next week.
But still there were signs early in this game of their individual brilliance, of their ability to take the game away from the hosts. And so for England to come from 12 points down, to score 25 unanswered points and to win comfortably against a team they had previously beaten just eight times in history — there is no way to overestimate the significance of that. This was comfortably their biggest scalp and they claimed it with room to spare.
There are still sides who have been consistently better than England but this is a huge psychological leap forward. A year ago they were in the habit of losing, now they are ten games unbeaten and the habit has been reversed.
No doubt there are some meaty challenges out there. France and Ireland in the Six Nations. South Africa, obviously. But since losing to Ireland last year, the team has been moving consistently in the right direction.
From the experienced heads — Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Ellis Genge — down to the younger lads such as Pollock, there is a tremendous blend in this squad. It is a victory for them. It is also a huge victory for the coaching team, who seem as though they’ve had a real injection of energy and belief.
Pollock, centre, with Ellis Genge, left, and Luke Cowan-Dickie celebrate victory over the All Blacks in the dressing room afterwards
DAN MULLAN/RFU/GETTY IMAGES
Borthwick was once perceived as a conservative coach. And he has struggled at times since he took over from Jones. That sequence of narrow defeats last year must have taken its toll. He has had to deal with a lot. No doubt he and the other coaches must have had a hard look at themselves at points.
Now, he looks bold. He named his team early, on the Tuesday rather than the Thursday. He was clear on the reasoning, and his major decision — to hold key players back for the crucial final 20 minutes — was one of the decisive factors in the match.
Every team has a breakthrough win on their journey, and for Borthwick’s England this was it. I think we will look back on it as pivotal. They look like a team who are capable of beating anyone. So much of that comes from belief. I think the group have had that belief for a while, but now the belief has turned into reality.
The challenge now, naturally, after all of this progress, is to go on and get some tangible silverware to show for it. Bring on the Six Nations.