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The precocious England talent is in the crosshairs of the Springboks this weekend
England back-row Henry Pollock was told he was ‘public enemy number one’ by a stranger in his South African hotel earlier this week.
The precocious 21-year-old, fresh from winning the Gallagher Prem title with Northampton, will start on the bench against the Springboks this weekend in England’s Nations Championship opener in Johannesburg. South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach Rassie Erasmus has been complimentary of the polarising Lions flanker, but that’s not how the rest of the country have welcomed Pollock.
George Furbank, Pollock’s captain at Northampton, is set to make his first England appearance since November 2024 this weekend.
And, ahead of ending his lengthy time away from Test rugby, he revealed just how far-reaching the local contempt for Pollock appears to be.
“Every time we’ve spoken about the opposition hating him, he seems to go out and perform,” said Furbank. “He seems to get better and better the bigger the stage.
“I genuinely think it doesn’t actually bother him. I don’t know how because if that was me, I would be a little bit different.
“We had one person come up to him in the hotel and say ‘South Africans are coming for you’.
“It was actually a Congolese guy who had just finished watching the football and he came up to him and said ‘you’re public enemy number one!’.”
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This isn’t the first example of Pollock seemingly getting on the wrong side of the South African public.
Pollock’s face had already adorned the front cover of SA Rugby magazine with the headline: ‘Poms set for Bok Bruising at Ellis Park’.
Legendary Springboks number eight Duane Vermeulen previously admitted that he would not mind coming out of retirement for a brief stint just to face England youngster Henry Pollock.
The Daily Mail reported on a church service outside of Pretoria last weekend, where some of the sermon was dedicated to Pollock.
“How many of you are looking forward to the Boks playing England? Raise your hands!” asked the pastor to his congregation, many of whom were wearing Springbok jerseys.
“Keep your hands raised if you are looking forward to it because you want to see that young chap, Henry Pollock. You know who he is. I want to say bimbo… but I’m not going to say bimbo. That cocky guy.
“We just want to see Jasper Wiese go and smoke him! He needs to be taught a lesson!”
One local student told the same paper: “He’s a good player but we f***ing hate that guy.”
John Robbie, the former Ireland and Lions scrum-half who moved to South Africa in 1981 and became a much-loved radio presenter in the country, has also offered his views on why Pollock seems to get under the skin of Springbok fans.
“He’s absolutely what South Africans hate,” Robbie told the Telegraph.
“He embodies that particular English fascination with personality, star quality. That’s precisely what triggers South Africans, particularly Afrikaners. South Africans are supposed to be quiet, dour, stiff-upper-lip, modest, thankful to God. Then you have this kid who is everything they don’t like: he’s outspoken, brash, a bit arrogant.
“Afrikaner society has changed a lot and has got a lot more liberal in many respects, but it still has that in-built conservatism, Dutch Reformed Church, that sort of thing. I find it hugely amusing. But scrape away that, and you will find a deep respect because South Africans recognise talent. Make no mistake, they appreciate what a player he is and his potential genius.”
