Pollard helping to put life into Tigers
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HANDRE Pollard says that his experience in the Premiership with Leicester has made him a more rounded player ahead of his return to South Africa for the Rugby Championship before the autumn World Cup.
The 29-year-old outside-half endured a frustrating start to his career with Tigers after joining from Montpellier. Injured during last year’s Rugby Championship, he made his debut off the bench against Saracens a month into the campaign and was then out until Christmas.
He has been making up for lost time, helping Leicester go on their best run of the season with four consecutive victories to move to third in the Premiership with their three remaining matches all at home.
“It is frustrating arriving at a new club and not being able to contribute, but the coaches put no pressure on me and they had confidence in me,” said Pollard. “They gave me the necessary time to where I wanted to be and it was motivating.
“I am feeling a lot more comfortable now and my body is holding up nicely. I am getting around the park and have put a run of games together. It was tough in the middle part of the campaign with the coaches changing, but the boys have rallied well.”
Pollard’s half-back partnership with Ben Youngs, right, has been key for Leicester in the last seven weeks with five players away on England duty. The experienced pair have been at their controlling best, as they showed in last weekend’s impressive victory at Gloucester.
“I have always enjoyed watching the Premiership,” said Pollard. “It suits me better than the open style of play in France, more technical and smarter with everyone well coached. The Tigers thrive on being tactical and putting teams under pressure with our kicking game and it has been unbelievable to play at Welford Road.
“I heard a lot about the place and it has blown me away. It is a privilege to be part of a club like this, somewhere rugby is loved. You can feel the history and tradition when you walk into the ground: there are certain stadiums in the world where you sense the culture and feeling for the game and Welford Road is one of them.
“As you get older, you realise what you can and cannot do. You look to improve and become smarter tactically so you make better decisions. It’s one reason why I enjoy the Premiership so much. Every game is a chess match: it’s not just brute force or speed, speed, speed as it is in the southern hemisphere.
“You have to break teams down and I enjoy that. You learn from wherever you go and this experience will make me a different player for South Africa. You have to develop because rugby changes so much. We are evolving and have real attacking threats with some unreal young players coming through.”
South Africa are in the same World Cup group as Ireland and Scotland and they are on the same side of the draw as France and New Zealand meaning that at least two of the current top four in the world rankings will not make it to the semi-finals.
“We are in a tough pool, but there is a long way to go before then,” said Pollard. “I have enjoyed watching the Six Nations and the rugby has been of good quality. Steve (Borthwick) has a difficult task with England having taken over so close to the World Cup, but knowing his work rate and the people he will have with him, I think they will be dangerous in France.
“He is an unbelievable coach who drives standards. It takes time for players to get used to the physical demands of that approach, but there is no real pressure on him with four years to build after the World Cup if this year’s tournament does not work out for them.”
Before then, Pollard has the final two months of the season to play out with Leicester who as well as looking to retain their Premiership title are at home to Edinburgh in the last 16 of the Champions Cup at the end of the month.
“The Saracens game was massive for us last month,” said Pollard. “We knew we would have to dig deep and were under the pump in the second half. The way the guys fought in defence was unreal and I knew why Leicester had done so well last season. You cannot buy the fight that is in the group.”