Henry Pollock celebrating England’s win over Wales. (Image: Getty.)
Tommy Freeman revealed two-try tyro Henry Pollock predicted he would get on the scoresheet the night before this walloping of . got a glimpse of the future in Cardiff on Saturday and Northampton flanker Pollock, just 20, will be a huge part of it. Making his Test debut as a 48th-minute replacement, Pollock scored two of England’s 10 tries as they finally put an opponent on the canvas and kept them there.
Pollock described as a pest in training by skipper Maro Itoje is a certainty to tour with England this summer and could even be involved in the Lions conversation. And his Saints teammate Freeman reckons the sky is the limit for the confident youngster who is already a Junior World Cup winner.
Freeman, the first Englishman to score tries in five rounds of the Six Nations, said: “He’s a joke. He’s unbelievable. He brings the sort of energy like you’ve never seen before for a 20-year-old.
“I remember my first game I was shaking in the corner, all nervous. But this guy, nothing fazes him. On Friday night he was in my room telling me about he was going to get his first try on the wing – and then he gets it. He was doing the try celebrations as well in the room, showed me what he was going to do. But that’s the type of guy he is in and fair play to him, he backs it up and he’s got a big career ahead of him.
“You never really know if you want a 20-year-old coming off the bench, and you’re not sure about him first time. But that kid’s pretty special and he’ll continue to be, I’m sure.”
Henry Pollock about to dive over and score for England. (Image: Getty)
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
Pollock’s energetic performance helped England keep their foot on the gas when in previous games they have let opponents off the hook.
England threw away winning positions against the Wallabies and the All Blacks in the autumn but they were ruthless for the whole 80 minutes.
Freeman added: “We’re a difficult team to beat now. We create opportunities and put ourselves up ahead in these games, and it’s just about staying on the front foot. I think there were times where we let Australia back in the game and those narrow defeats with New Zealand as well.
“Whereas now, we’ve really just gone out and put our game on, trying to do it for 80 minutes rather than letting it slip after 60. It makes our bus journey a lot easier, I’ll tell you that.”
Scrum-half Alex Mitchell, another one of the five Northampton players in the matchday 23, added: “We always speak about wanting to do more. We don’t want to just settle on our leads.
“You want to keep scoring because if you settle on the lead, they’re going to come back and try and bite you.
“Regardless of the score, you’re going to keep pushing and get more tries. Foot on the throat is our mentality and we did that.”
Boss Borthwick will have a chance to blood more youngsters on the tour to USA and Argentina, with the Lions stars away, as Eddie Jones did with the likes of Sam Underhill and Tom Curry. England have also arranged a match against a French XV at Twickenham on 21 June the day the Lions set off for Australia.