'Hungry, but humble' – Farrell backs Pollock to make impact

Yahoo

4 hours ago

Western Force v British and Irish Lions
Date: Saturday, 28 June Venue: Optus Stadium, Perth Time: 11:00 BST Coverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website
Henry Pollock must replicate the energy and abrasiveness that have fuelled his meteoric rise so far, says head coach Andy Farrell as the 20-year-old starts for the British and Irish Lions for the first time.
Pollock will pack down at number eight as the Lions take on Western Force in their first tour game on Australian soil on Saturday.
Advertisement
"You want people with confidence and belief because that helps when he takes the field," said head coach Andy Farrell.
"You don't want a kid to go under the radar and in three weeks' time just settle into a side. You pick him for a reason.
"He's a Lion just like the eldest player. There's no difference whatsoever. His character is infectious to everyone. He's a great lad."
Pollock's try celebrations, most famously checking his pulse after streaking past Sam Prendergast in Northampton's Champions Cup semi-final upset of Leinster, have been part of his appeal, and Farrell has given him permission to continue with his celebration routines.
Advertisement
"He's certainly not overawed. I mean, I love that. You want kids to be themselves and he's just being himself. He doesn't know any different," said Farrell.
"He's hungry to learn and that's perfect because you can see that he's got a real point of difference.
"He sees things quickly and acts upon that. His line running is pretty good. His awareness of space, how sharp he is in his mind and his athletic abilities are up there with the other lads in the squad.
"He's hungry to make a difference the whole time. But he also understands what parts of his game he needs to improve. He's got a great attitude."
Advertisement
Before the start of this season, Pollock's experience of senior top-flight rugby was limited to half an hour off the bench in a Premiership loss to Leicester.
But his barnstorming performances for Northampton this season earned him the league's breakthrough of the season award, a nomination for the Champions Cup player of the year and elevation to the England senior squad, for whom he scored two tries on his debut against Wales in March.
He would be the youngest Test Lion of the professional era if he appears in the series against Australia.
Waugh captained the New South Wales Waratahs in a 41-24 defeat by the Lions, marked by several punch-ups, five yellow cards and a red, on the 2001 tour [Getty Images]
Elsewhere, Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said that they and the Lions had still not reached a solution on the tourists' demand for more Wallabies stars to be released to their Super Rugby sides.
Advertisement
Lions chief Ben Calveley said that Australia would be in breach of the tour agreement if they held back their Test players from the pre-series fixtures, denying the tourists proper preparation and denting the commercial value of the build-up.
Australia head coach Joe Schmidt ultimately allowed six of the nine Western Force players he picked for a warm-up match against Fiji to appear against the Lions this weekend.
"It's still not resolved, but we need to work constructively to resolve it," Waugh told News Corp. newspapers.
"We've got a very clear position on it and we're working with them to resolve it and so hopefully that'll be resolved imminently."