'I want to get under their skin' - arch-pest Pollock aims for Leinster
Pollock has scored six tries in six Champions Cup games this season
- Published
Investec Champions Cup semi-final: Leinster v Northampton
Date: Saturday 3 May Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Kick-off: 17:30 BST
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and BBC Radio Northampton
Courtney Lawes called him a "cocky little" something.
Lewis Ludlam's description, external is similarly difficult to print.
Maro Itoje opted for "absolutely annoying" and "a pest".
And they are Henry Pollock's team-mates.
Tommy Freeman, who plays alongside Pollock for England and Northampton, smiles at the inevitable question.
"What's Henry really like? You can probably guess what he is like..."
A lot of people have been asking. Because a lot of people have been watching.
It is not just what Pollock has done in the past 12 months - winning the Under-20 World Cup, scoring two tries on his senior England debut, being nominated for the Champions Cup player of the year, preparing to line up against Leinster in Saturday's semi-final and butting into the Lions selection conversation.
It is the way he has done it.
The 20-year-old back row has swagger and self-possession, and a side order of skulduggery.
There has been no dutiful trade-learning and spur-earning.
Instead, just prodigious talent, Tigger-ish energy, galloping pace and a presumption that the world is his for the taking.
It gets people talking. And has done for a while.
Eighteen months ago a video circulated among Bedford's players.
They had been told that Pollock, then only 18, was ing them in the Championship on loan.
"He came with a little bit of a reputation as he was very well thought of by Saints' academy," says Bedford's Alex Woolford.
"This viral clip of him did the rounds among us. He was being interviewed after an England Under-18 win over South Africa and swore three times in about 10 seconds.
"We knew he was going to be very enthusiastic."
He was.
"We were pretty poor in the first half against Ampthill," adds Woolford, ing Pollock's first start.
"Henry tried to give us the hairdryer treatment. He was effing and blinding and telling us we were not good enough and I thinking 'bloody hell, what is this kid doing"Graphic image of, from left to right, Alex Albon, George Russell, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris, Fernando Alonso and Oliver Bearman. It is on a blue background with 'Fan Q&A' below the drivers " loading="lazy" src="https://image.staticox.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Face%2Fstandard%2F480%2Fsprodpb%2F7ff9%2Flive%2Fd42302e0-34b3-11f0-8519-3b5a01ebe413.jpg" width="385" height="216" class="ssrcss-11yxrdo-Image edrdn950"/>
