In January, Henry Pollock and his young teammates gathered around television at the academy's house to marvel at Luke Littler while he was Coronado King of the Darts World. Now is the moment of Pollock to enjoy the attention and hysteria center.
On Saturday, the 20-year-old became the youngest scorer in England in the six nations, since they took care of a 68-14 victory over Wales, giving Steve Borthwick a Lightning Ray for the first prize. The debuts are not much better.
With those two attempts, he joined the next generation of English sports stars that are demonstrating that they can illuminate an era. Think about Ethan Nwaneri in Arsenal, or Moisés Itauma in the boxing ring.
Things have quickly accelerated for Pollock. Only last summer, it was one of the beacons in the winning team of the World Cup of children under 20 years in England, and Borthwick rewarded him a couple of months ago with an invitation to Twickenham. From there, it depended on him to write the headlines.
After being established in the major ranks of Northampton, it seemed only a matter of time before Pollock would leave his mark on the senior international stage.
“Seeing Littler doing what he did at his age was quite angry,” Pollock told Mail Sport in January while installed in a suite in Franklin's gardens. 'We wanted to go to Ally Pally to see, but he really didn't align with our game time. There is a lot of talent: darts, boxing, football, it's exciting.
Henry Pollock became the youngest scorer in England, the six nations, the scorer, since two against Wales on Saturday in a demolition work 68-14
Now is his time to enjoy the center of attention and hysteria after breaking into the senior scene
Pollock smiles after receiving his mother and dad in England's dressing room
'Last year it was very special to us. That group we had in those under 20, winning the six nations in Pau, that was the first time he played in front of a full crowd that he does not like. It was great.
'We really had one in the attitude. There was a fire. It was a high-performance group, Junior Kpoku starting with the races, Asher Opoku-Fordjour making their debut for England in autumn, AFO Fasogbon playing for Gloucester and shaking Ellis Gengo. You have Arch McParland here in Northampton, Billy Sela in Bath, Ben Redshaw playing the full 80 for Newcastle, Kepu Tuipulotu making his debut against us (for Bath in January).
'The English rugby route system is brilliant. You can look back four or five years, the French team of Romain Ntamack making the World Cup consecutive for children under 20 years. That year group is now the best in the world. If everything goes well, that 20 -year -old group we had, it is only really above here … '
Pollock has not arrived in silence. It is a row of recoil of all the action, which covers the necklace that supports the noise with hauling, tacle and ball losses. He was advised by former captain of England and Saints Dylan Hartley as a school in Stowe, sharing a similar appetite for confrontation.
“Dylan basically said:” When you come to the saints, do not give those who are the people, just see and sit next to Courtney Laws and all the big dogs. “
“I looked at him and said:” That is not going to work. “He said:” If you are not going to work, you are not in the right place. “I said:” But I will be beaten “and he said” well, yes, you have to be beaten a little. “
So, did you sit at the back of the meeting room? 'No! I sat in the front like a small two -goodies shoe. I suppose that what you should take into account was to be yourself, do not enter your shell. It was a good model to follow because I suppose it has done well.
Pollock speaks while playing. Words remove their tongue at the speed of the machine gun, occasionally they stop to breathe. He is a high -energy human; A feature that dates back to its childhood years passing triathlons in the cold winter mornings.
His family and friends were in the stands at the Millennium Stadium to absorb a proud day
Pollock is one of the new generations that hopes to shape the next years for England
Steve Borthwick's men made a memorable Six Nations campaign with four victories in five
He said he was 'crazy' to see Luke Littler becoming world champion of only 17 years
Pollock helped England win the six nations under 20 last year and now has taken the step
It is a background row of all the action and supports the noise with hauling, tacle and ball losses.
He was advised by former Patron of England and Saints, Dylan Hartley, while he was a school at Stowe
Pollock has an affinity for fighting sports and admires UFC's stars as Israel Adesanya
The explosive New Zealand star, Ardie Savea, was named as one of the Pollock rugby idols
“My childhood was very, very sporty,” he explains. 'I went to a very pleasant preparation school and did all the sports there. Swimming, running, I had a very good fitness baseline that gives you that aerobic advantage. My mother got quite hard with the modern pentathlon (horses, shooting, running, but she had to give up before the Olympic Games when she became pregnant with my sister. I did the triathlon national champions when I was very young, 13 or 14 years old.
'It is a mental battle. It is a hard sport. I did the Eton Dorney when I was 13 years old. I did it quite well. It starts to dough, running towards the water, trembling because it is frozen. It was fun. Maybe when I retired, it would be great to make a couple of Ironman events. There is a couple who do in Hawaii who are so hot and so wet.
'Maybe the Marathon des Sebles in Morocco … running through the desert, seven days and seven nights, the only thing with you are your own thoughts. That would be great. That feeling of pain and then the relief later, that is the reason you do. I have always had that mentality.
Pollock has the mentality of a fighter. Instead of the Littler's eye for a double 10 or Nwaneri's ability to cut off the wing, the young man from Northampton has a more natural affinity for fighting sports.
'I like the way they are taken in UFC. I am looking forward to the fight between Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov, from Daguestan. Some of those guys almost talk to victory. I grew up seeing Conor McGregor. Now a little of the rails has gone, but I saw him a lot at the beginning of his career, before all judicial cases.
'He dominated that sport and did something so new. The whole talk, arrogance, appearing in a Rolls Royce and chatting s ***. He didn't care what people thought or what people said about them, he simply convinced him to exist and supported him in the cage.
'I am reading the law of attraction, about how you can convince your thoughts in existence. It is about visualizing things and visualizing it in existence. For our match against Stade this weekend, maybe he would visualize something like No 8 running through his channel, climbing to the head space to make the action before it happened. I am playing with that at this time.
Your rugby idol? 'On the international stage, Ardie Savea is someone who I see at the top of the game in the back row. It is explosive, it is all you want in that loose area. Those players who never really disappear, such as Michael Hooper or David Pocock. That is something that I am trying to work, being that discomfort, everywhere in the field.
Pollock was a party man in his debut in England and faced Tom Hooper from Australia
Pollock told Mail Sport that playing for England is the 'great goal of the year' after being invited to Twickenham, now he has succeeded
Help Northampton Saints win
'I am not someone to avoid confrontation. Just because I'm 19 years old, I'm not going to show myself. I put 100% in everything I do, I never step back. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't.
Pollock was appointed man of the game in his debut for England A in November, taking out the scrum cap of his opposite man, the flank of Australia, Tom Hooper, in the process.
England has a depth of resources in the row, with Tom Willis also reaching the ranks.
“Playing for England is the great goal of this year,” he told Mail Sport in January. 'Going down to Twickenham this week, it was great, to meet all the coaches and the best players in the country. I just have to play well for Northampton and I hope the coaches see it. When I was a child who enters Saints, they don't shy away from putting them in the background. That is what the saints go later. That gives you confidence.
'It has definitely not easy, the changes between the high -level games, you can underestimate how much it goes to your body. I am young, so my body still works, but you see the older boys who have been doing it for 10 years and how they listen to their body. Everyone can say that playing for your country is the best. If I look 10 years ahead, Lions is up there. All those things you wanted to do when you were a child. That fight does not disappear.
While it leaves the suite in the gardens of Franklin, Pollock looks at the giant photography of the Saints team that won the Premier League last season. Champagne bottles and ski glasses. “I missed that,” he says. “I was in Georgia with the 20s.”
Have you inspired your generation to do everything again? 'Definitely' responds, with all the confidence of a teenager who has not set a bad foot. 'Advance?