Henry Pollock alarming incident with stranger in South African hotel

The 21-year-old has emerged as one of the most polarising players in world rugby, with his confidence and confrontational style making him a major talking point ahead of England’s Nations Championship opener against the Springboks in Johannesburg.

Pollock, fresh from winning the Gallagher Prem title with Northampton Saints, has been named on the bench for this weekend’s clash.

While South Africa’s World Cup-winning head coach Rassie Erasmus has been complimentary about the Lions flanker, it appears the rest of the country may not be quite as welcoming.

Northampton captain George Furbank has now revealed the bizarre hotel encounter which underlined just how much attention Pollock is attracting.

“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!’.”

Furbank is set to make his first England appearance since November 2024 this weekend as he finally ends his lengthy absence from Test rugby.

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