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A couple of months ago, after Henry Pollock scored his first Premiership try against Sale in what is sure to be a contender for try of the season, I got a little excited. I called Phil Dowson – someone I have known since he was 19 – to speak to him about this star in the making. I asked if I was getting carried away with myself. Phil said he is a good kid who works hard on his game, and the next day I’m thinking about Pollock as a midweek captain for the British & Irish Lions.
Fast forward two months and I’m of the same opinion. This isn’t me getting swept up in the hype, and that certainly isn’t to say Pollock cannot force his way into the Lions Test team or squad, but just give him the responsibility and let him flourish.
The longer the tour goes on, it becomes harder for the midweek team. The more that you are playing on Wednesday and not Saturday, the more tempting it is to feel like you are not a proper part of the tour. There’s a midweek match between the first and second Tests and basically no one wants to play in it. Pollock will, though. He’ll want to play every minute of every match.
You just have to look at his level of energy. Andy Farrell will be urging him to put that energy into each single minute of the tour. For it to remain at fever pitch. I’d be saying to Pollock: “Be captain, lead us in midweek. You’ll make mistakes but so will all of us.” There may be other players with more experience, better suited to the role who may make better captains but Pollock will be the most excitable man in Australia. Give him the honour and watch him go. My only reservation would be that the responsibility might take away from any of his game but if that is not the case, he would be my pick.
In terms of Pollock the player, he’s part of an extremely competitive back-row selection but you can’t actually compare him to anyone else. Not Josh van der Flier, not Jac Morgan, not Ben Earl. Stylistically, he’s so different from everyone else. All the highlights reels we see do not take away from all the standard things he is supposed to do as a flanker. He excels at all of those while adding the flashy bits. How he can drive people has just made him impossible to ignore in Farrell’s eyes. In many ways, it just isn’t a surprise that he has been picked.
Last summer, when Pollock was part of the under-20 side who won the Junior World Cup, it might have been. He was still playing in the under-20s’ Six Nations this year and it is an incredible rise to get to the point where his Lions selection was almost expected. But rugby needs people like him.
At the squad announcement there were spectators from England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland but they all went crazy for him when his name was read out. Farrell had a massive smile on his face because he loves the energy Pollock generates.
He’s also part of a new wave of Lions. These things are cyclical and when I went on the 2009 tour, I played with a load of legends of the game who were coming towards the end. Four years later, new Lions legends were born in Australia. I look at Sam Warburton who didn’t tour in 2009 and captained the squad in 2013. By the end of that tour, Brian O’Driscoll found himself out of the Test side because Jonathan Davies established himself.
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Four years later in New Zealand, players such as Davies, Johnny Sexton, Owen Farrell and Taulupe Faletau went on their second tours and cemented their status with the Lions. In South Africa four years later it was the last hurrah for a lot of those players and now there is not a single player in the squad who toured in 2013. There is real symmetry between 2013 and 2025. There are 26 first-time tourists in a squad of 38 but how many will go on to become Lions legends across multiple tours?
That said, for many it will be their only shot. It’s so important that you do not forget how special it is. My message to everyone selected is to always keep in mind what it is to be a Lion. It’s the most special time, the most special jersey to wear and the most special club to be a part of.
The schedule is frantic, it’s hectic; you can feel like you’re constantly on the move, going from city to city, training, midweek matches, Saturday matches so the danger is that it can pass you by. But once the final whistle goes at the end of the final Test, that’s it. It’s over. My advice to every player is to be really intentional about the memories you want to make.
