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Blood vessels, nerve endings, hair follicles, Henry Pollock. Don’t mind me, I’m just creating a list of what gets underneath a French rugby fan’s skin.

Admittedly, the French are easily disgruntled – they have never met a wine-fuelled, fiery protest that they did not like – but that a 21-year-old England player lives rent-free in their head tells you all you need to know about Pollock’s ability to ruffle feathers.

It’s insane, really.

Rewind to May 2025. Bordeaux-Begles had just won their first European Champions Cup, beating Northampton Saints in a 28-20 humdinger in Cardiff. Their first thought? Rough up Henry Pollock. Grab his throat. Give this youthful punk hell. Even on the journey back to France, several players posted to social media mocking Pollock with one of his trademark celebrations. Yes, that’s right, “one of”. You better believe he’s got a catalogue.

Fast forward 10 months, and the Paris crowd are booing his name being announced before France’s Six Nations crunch with England. South Africa, among others, have since joined the Poop on Pollock Party, greeting him with jeers and jibes when entering the field in Johannesburg for the Nations Championship match between the Springboks and England … except it was actually his back-row brother Guy Pepper. Classic case of mistaken identity.

Provocative, brash, confident, Pollock would make a great WWE villain … or hero, depending on how much you love “shithousery” – the art of antagonisation. It is no wonder he has attracted the attention of Eddie Hearn, the sports promoter responsible for partnerships with the likes of Anthony Joshua.

Pollock became the first rugby player to join Matchroom Sport in March (Finn Russell the second) for two reasons: ker and ching.

“I’ve been through Henry’s money and it’s going to change significantly,” Hearn said. “I know how to build a star.

“The problem with rugby is that they have no vision. I’m the audience you want, because I’m the casual guy. You have to engage me. Pollock did that. All of a sudden, I’m looking at this kid, I don’t know whether to like him, to dislike him, to think he’s a flash Harry, or he’s a great kid. But he’s got my attention.

“You have to create characters and stars that the younger generation look at and want to be like. The kids need to run around the field commentating on themselves, going, ‘And it’s Pollock!’ You know they’re doing them with Henry, with a black headband on. That’s the first time I think England rugby has had a player like that for some time.”

So that is the sizzle, but, believe me, there is plenty of steak to go with it. Pollock is the real deal. He is a student of the game. He may be the youngest English tryscorer in Six Nations history (scoring twice on his debut against Wales in 2025) but he is wise beyond his years; he is always in the right place at the right time, which is everywhere on the field because he can do the forward’s grunt work and the backline ballet dancing. The Wallabies already know about that, having been on the receiving end of a wonderful Pollock pick-up score at Twickenham last year.

Don’t take my word for it. This is what the god of South Africa, Rassie Erasmus, thinks of him.

“All we can do is analyse how he plays rugby and he is a massive threat,” Erasmus said. “He is a flipping good rugby player. He’s a very good rugby player, not just on the defensive side or the attacking side, but also on the physical side.”

So where has Pollock come from? He is a bona fide star and has already crammed much into his embryonic career. He made his English league debut at the age of 18 against Leicester Tigers in the East Midlands derby – arguably the most heated rivalry in English rugby.

Over the next two years came a plethora of personal gongs, England recognition, eye-catching displays in European club competition, before Andy Farrell decided he had seen enough of the quintessentially private-school-looking rugby student to warrant taking him down under for the 2025 British & Irish Lions tour. In June, Pollock became the youngest stallion in history to be named as the player of the match in a Prem final, as his sensational display helped crown his boyhood club Northampton as champions.

Putting it bluntly, Pollock has endured a career’s worth of activity, news and drama in only a few short years. But he is no flash in the pan, and nor can he afford to be. England’s back-row depth is the best it has ever been. If the RFU was to change eligibility laws regarding players in France (namely, the Willis brothers), then that bunch of proper flankers becomes a full-blown army.

“There is a bloody big target on the back of Henry Pollock. There is an inevitability he can handle it,” former England No8 Tom Wood said. Hell, even England head coach Steve Borthwick, who is very Times New Roman when it comes to hyperbole, backed Pollock to continue bringing the “euphoria”.

Borthwick may not have been too thrilled seeing clips of Pollock making silly toddler faces to riled-up Argentina fans from the safety of the England coach earlier this month, but he will have loved his performance in the victory over the world’s most-hated nation, and certainly his hat-trick against Fiji the weekend prior.

Love him or loathe him, there is no denying that Pantomime Pollock’s star is on the rise. And if there is one thing that rugby needs more of, it is marketable, familiar, super-characters like him.

Henry Pollock: Glorified celebrity, bona fide champion ... or both?: Why rugby craves this pantomime villain