{"id":385866,"date":"2026-01-23T10:17:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T10:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/385866\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T10:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T10:17:11","slug":"i-can-emulate-henry-pollocks-crazy-rise-with-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/385866\/","title":{"rendered":"I can emulate Henry Pollock\u2019s crazy rise with England"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fired up by some direct words of advice from Owen Farrell, Noah Caluori is determined to emulate Henry Pollock\u2019s remarkable rise into Test rugby as he prepares for a Six Nations campaign with England Under-20.<\/p>\n

Caluori, 19, trained with England\u2019s senior team in November after being drafted into the squad before the Australia game, with the specific job of emulating Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii\u2019s aerial threat.<\/p>\n

The 6ft 4in Saracens wing, who subsequently started two England A games in the autumn, is not expected to be part of Steve Borthwick\u2019s senior Six Nations squad, which will be announced at Twickenham on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"Noah<\/p>\n

Caluori sets tongues wagging as he runs in the fifth of the five tries he scored in a rout of Sale<\/p>\n

EDDIE KEOGH\/GETTY<\/p>\n

A year ago Pollock was in much the same position. Aged 20 at the time, he too had just played for England A. The Northampton Saints tyro was drafted into the senior set-up for a Six Nations training week in Girona before being released back to the under-20s.<\/p>\n

Pollock was disheartened with the demotion because he believed he was ready, but he applied himself, earned a recall from Borthwick and made a memorable Test debut in a record win against Wales in Cardiff. Three months later he was on the British & Irish Lions tour.<\/p>\n

Caluori knows the secret lies in how he deals with disappointment. He views it as the biggest lesson of an exciting breakthrough season, a lesson Farrell taught him with some typically direct language.<\/p>\n

Having started the season with two Gallagher Prem appearances, Caluori was omitted from the Saracens team to play Harlequins and sent on loan to play for Ampthill in the second tier. The news affected how Caluori trained that day.<\/p>\n

\"Noah<\/p>\n

The teenager earns the plaudits after touching down against Newcastle Red Bulls last September<\/p>\n

BRUCE WHITE\/COLORSPORT\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say I am usually quite bubbly in training and it wasn\u2019t one of those days,\u201d he says. \u201cI could have been training harder so there is some truth to the story. We were doing a tackle drill and I was like, \u2018My shoulder kind of hurts,\u2019 just to myself. <\/p>\n

\u201cFaz [Farrell] was like, \u2018Is there anything wrong with you?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I am fine.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Is there anything wrong with you?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I am fine.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Train like it then.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Noah<\/p>\n

Caluori demonstrates his finishing prowess for England Under-18 against Georgia in August 2024<\/p>\n

ASHLEY VLOTMAN\/GETTY<\/p>\n

\u201cHe spoke to me later in the session and said, \u2018You shouldn\u2019t need someone to motivate you to train like you always do on a day when it is cold or on a day when you haven\u2019t been selected.\u2018<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t take it in a negative way at all. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to experience disappointment [is the biggest lesson I have learnt]. When I went to the Champ after playing two Prem games, it was a disappointing thing to experience. But I treated that game like I was playing Harlequins.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first I was upset to not be playing in the Prem that week. No matter what ups and downs [I experience] in my career, I want to have the same mental focus and treat every opportunity the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Caluori returned to the Saracens team, he scored five tries in a 65-14 demolition of Sale Sharks. The following week he linked up with England.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in the England camp, I would have wanted my first cap in the Autumn Nations Series but I went into the As and treated those games the same,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Which is where Pollock\u2019s example comes in. Caluori has never been shy of setting goals, or sharing them with his coaches. His immediate mission is to start every game for England Under-20 and win a grand slam.<\/p>\n

Caluori\u2019s ultimate ambition is to be considered England\u2019s greatest wing, which would place him above the likes of Rory Underwood, Jason Robinson and Ben Cohen. <\/p>\n

\u201cI want to go on England\u2019s tour this year and hopefully get my first cap either in this Six Nations or in the summer. I want to make the most of any opportunity I\u2019m given,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"England's<\/p>\n

Pollock has blazed a trail for other England Under-20 graduates to follow<\/p>\n

BOB BRADFORD\/GETTY\/CAMERASPORT<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Pollock last year was in the under-20 camps, moved up into the Six Nations senior squad, went back into the under-20s and then made his debut in the Six Nations. <\/p>\n

\u201cCredit to him, he\u2019s had a crazy rise and I would definitely like to follow in his footsteps in some of the things he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Will Stuart and Asher Opoku-Fordjour both injured \u2014 two of England\u2019s top three tight-head props \u2014 Borthwick is considering a call-up for Bath\u2019s scrummaging prospect Billy Sela along with Trevor Davison. Fin Baxter\u2019s foot issue is likely to open a loose-head berth for Beno Obano. <\/p>\n

Emeka Ilione and Greg Fisilau have been tipped for selection in the back row, while Seb Atkinson, Fraser Dingwall and Max Ojomoh are locked in a battle for the No12 jersey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fired up by some direct words of advice from Owen Farrell, Noah Caluori is determined to emulate Henry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-385866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}