Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus praised young England back-rower Henry Pollock, calling his on-field output "exceptional" and "awesome", and warned that the flanker completely delivers on his rugby duties, making him a major running and breakdown threat that the Springboks must work hard to contain.
The 21-year-old Pollock has only 10 caps, and is a favourite to represent England against the Springboks at Ellispark on Saturday 04 July 2026 at 17:40 (SA Time).
While Pollock's confrontational celebrations and brash attitude have divided fans and drawn criticism from former players, Erasmus said that personal antics are up to Pollock and the England squad.
“His personality and how he does things are up to him and the England squad. If I was coaching him, I’d only look at his output, and his output is awesome.”
“Pollock is a bit like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. People create a lot of hype around a player, and sometimes they don’t think about whether the player even wants that attention.”
“What counts is what they do on the field, and he certainly does his job on the field. And that’s something we have to contain.”
Erasmus also compared Pollock to Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, noting that the media often builds immense hype around young stars that the players themselves did not ask for.
“He’s like Siya. People make a big deal about certain players, but I don’t always think the players themselves want that attention. What counts is what they do on the field, and recently, he’s been doing that. If I were coaching him, I’d only look at his output, and that has been exceptional.”