Pollard on hunt for game’s top trophies
HANDRE Pollard plans to use his Tigers stripes to go club trophy hunting and also put him in perfect shape to help the Springboks capture a second successive World Cup.
The fly-half also insists the golden opportunity offered to his fellow countrymen to participate in this season’s Champions Cup will be priceless.
A knee injury sustained against Saracens – similar to the one which curtailed his Rugby Championship appearances – has reduced Pollard to just 27 minutes of action for Leicester since his big move.
The 28-year-old is now scheduled to return to action in the New Year and will be eager to show just why Leicester enlisted his outstanding services.
He said: “It’s has been very frustrating since I arrived here but the injury is coming along nicely… we just want to make sure there are no setbacks. I felt ready to go last time but the mechanism wasn’t strong and it didn’t hold up under pressure against Sarries.
“I’m getting myself ready to go again which will probably be in the New Year and then, hopefully, playing a nice five or six months until the end of the season.
“Tigers is an unbelievable environment ..... even better than I expected. Steve (Borthwick, director of rugby) has done a great job by getting everybody on the same page. It’s about becoming better players and I’ve come here to enhance my own game. You have to keep wanting to improve no matter what you have done or achieved in the past. It’s about learning every single day.
“I signed for Tigers also to win things. They have a great tradition and are on the up, as they proved by lifting the Premiership last time.”
European glory, especially with the South Africa’s leading clubs now included, is definitely on his wish list.
“I can see why some people will question it back home but it will really benefit the competition and help those South African players involved become better players,” he says. “It may take a couple of years to find their feet because it’s so different but tactically they will become smarter by picking up new things to compete with those European sides.
“Seven or eight years ago some of us South Africa players were saying we wished we were playing in the Champions Cup. Now it’s happened and it’s awesome. The South African public don’t yet understand the magnitude of it but they will soon agree this is the ultimate club competition.
“The young guys back home don’t get the opportunity to play in front of big crowds and packed stadia. So for them to come over and play against the likes of Clermont is massive. If you weren’t playing for the Springboks you’d never experience that. It will be great to see how those guys handle that pressure and thrive in it.”