The England international was at the centre of a clash at the end of the Champions Cup final
Henry Pollock has broken his silence on the violence that kicked off after the Champions Cup final in Cardiff.
Bordeaux faced Northampton Saints in European rugby’s showpiece event in the Welsh capital last weekend, with the French side winning 28-20 and securing their first-ever European trophy. However, shortly after the full-time whistle, attention was drawn to the immediate aftermath, with Pollock getting stuck into it with Bordeaux prop Jefferson Poirot. The Frenchman was subsequently cited for grabbing Pollock’s throat and will now miss his side’s final two games of the Top 14 regular season.
Pollock and team-mate Tommy Freeman appeared as guests on the latest episode of TNT Sports’ The Rugby Breakdown Show and touched on the post-match melee. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
The British & Irish Lions bolter was asked about the incident and told the tale from his perspective.
“The whistle goes, and obviously it’s pretty heated. I think Dingers (Fraser Dingwall) and (Matthieu) Jalibert were pushing and shoving,” Pollock told TNT Sports.
“I went over to Jalibert, pushed him and got involved, and was like: ‘I’m not letting Dingers be on his own here’.
“And then as I’m doing this – I didn’t know this in the moment, Fin (Smith) was looking around – apparently the loosehead (Poirot) was on the bench and beelined it straight to me.
“So we’re in this, and he basically grabs my neck and gets his hands on my throat and squeezes my neck,” he added. “I wasn’t happy with this, I was pretty angry.
“I managed to rip his shirt, and then the bit that you see is as he turns away, I push him, and then his friend comes in.
“We had to do statements after. It was mad, you’ve just won the Champions Cup and the first thing you want to do is run on and strangle a 20-year-old.”
On Bordeaux players mimicking Pollock’s celebration after their victory, David Flatman asked Freeman whether he was a fan of it.
“I wouldn’t say I love it,” began Freeman. “I would actually say, if they want to do that, and make you (Pollock) the front line of their celebrations, then fair play.
“He’s probably got a bit of a target on his back, through no fault of his own.”
You can watch the clip below.
Twenty-year-old Pollock has one game left of the regular season with Saints before taking on Australia with the Lions. He will be the youngest Lion on tour, and like Louis Rees-Zammit in 2021, has the responsibility of carrying BIL the stuffed lion for the entirety of the tour.
The young English star will get his first opportunity to play for the Lions when they face Argentina in the opening match of the tour on June 20.
