Steve Borthwick remembers in vivid detail his first meeting with Henry Pollock. The England head coach had not long taken the role and had travelled up to Northampton to check in with the club’s contingent within his squad. Before travelling up to Franklin’s Gardens, though, he got a tip about a teenage talent barely out of school but already making waves within the Saints setup.
“I was told when you’re up there you should meet Henry Pollock,” Borthwick recalled after handing the 21-year-old his first England start against Ireland. “He’s a young player with a huge future ahead of him; he’s not yet played for the first team, but you should meet Henry Pollock.” Borthwick heeded the call; there was no shock of blonde hair at that stage, but the youngster still made quite an impression.
“I was stood in the car park and this bundle of energy just bounced up to me,” the England boss continued. “Typically, when an 18-year-old meets the England head coach for the first time, they are usually on the shy and retiring side. But this man is the complete opposite – gregarious, loud. The first thing he said was, ‘How are you, mate?’ I thought, right, you’re different. Wonderfully different, and that’s the kind of character we’ve got in the squad. He’s larger than life, isn’t he? Just wants to do well, wants to express himself.”
It feels strange, in a way, that Pollock’s profile already greatly exceeds his relative position within the England squad. While he has served a vital role as a bench energiser in the seven appearances since his two-try debut against Wales at the end of last year’s Six Nations, and earned a spot on a British and Irish Lions tour, clamour for the back rower to start has not exactly been deafening. In part, that has been due to a run of 12 consecutive wins snapped by England’s tough evening at Murrayfield; so, too, the form of a cackling pack of hyenas in the back row.
But the time has come for a cameo man of the TikTok generation to take on a leading role. Pollock forms part of a new-look trio at the base of the scrum alongside Tom Curry, similarly promoted from the bench, and Ben Earl, who relocates to the openside. Borthwick had always planned a few tweaks, in part due to a tweaked Six Nations schedule that now sees the sides play three Tests back-to-back-to-back. The energy the 21-year-old brings will, in that sense, be valuable, as a sort of human Berocca after England’s heavy night in Edinburgh.
“I don’t think he needs any motivation from anything external, which I love – he is so intrinsically driven, he is that character,” Borthwick said. “What you see is exactly what you get. He gets people, as a player, gets people excited, he gets people jumping up and down with joy. He can bring a euphoria to people that not many players can.
“I will challenge him to express himself, be himself and bring what gets people jumping up and down with joy and also bring the self-sacrifice that a team sport needs. Do both. He does it wonderfully well and I am looking forward to seeing him do it from the start.”
Borthwick also sought to underline Pollock’s grasp of detail, and drive to get better on and off the pitch. If there is a maturity about the youngster that is not always immediately apparent – Borthwick recalled a moment from a Northampton win over Munster at the start of 2025 as evidence of his game understanding – there is also a sort of naivety, too, that England may need as they bid to bounce back. Even at Murrayfield, with the game gone, it was Pollock embracing former Lions colleague Finn Russell after a vain attempt to charge down the game-ending clearance to touch. There will be a challenge, though, in adjusting to a starting role; he can also expect plenty of Irish niggle.
If it is a home back row that looks light a lineout jumper – Ireland may consider Tadhg Beirne or Cormac Izuchukwu on the flank in response – it remains a side packed with dynamism. The easy choice, perhaps, after Henry Arundell’s sending off against Scotland, might have been to leave the wing out, even if a ban was not forthcoming following his two yellow cards. His presence ensures pace in an otherwise perhaps one-dimensional backline, though, with Ollie Lawrence brought in to the centres and Tommy Freeman reverting to the wing. Tom Roebuck, who came into this campaign having not played since November due to injury, has lacked a little bit of sharpness and is replaced.
“[Henry] came back into the squad prior to the autumn, played a little bit but not much, but has been challenged to improve some areas. He has gone away and improved them,” Borthwick stressed. “He has gone away and strived to be better. Saturday was… a difficult day. Clearly, it hit him personally. The guy is still a fantastic rugby player who has worked desperately hard and is clearly very passionate about playing for England. I can’t wait to see him out there again on Saturday.”
There are no other changes to the starting team, with captain Maro Itoje earning his 100th cap. The inclusion of Jack van Poortvliet and Marcus Smith, meanwhile, shows a desire for a different kind of impact, but most have been backed to go again. After a performance like that which England produced in Edinburgh, Borthwick has challenged a few senior figures to respond appropriately.
“There are players in the team that are playing this week because I’m backing them to put in a performance that they’ll want to put in after last week,” he stressed. “If it had gone the way everything wanted to go last week, perhaps I would have changed them as well, but it didn’t quite go the way we wanted it to, we didn’t quite get the result we wanted to, and I’m backing players there and I want players to feel backed. We’ve got a real good squad here, there’s a lot of players I could have picked, but I want players to feel backed.”
England XV to face Ireland at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (Saturday 21 February, 2.10pm GMT): 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Joe Heyes; 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 5 Ollie Chessum; 6 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Henry Pollock; 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 George Ford; 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Tommy Freeman; 15 Freddie Steward.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Sam Underhill; 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Marcus Smith.
