There will be those at a sold-out Twickenham on Saturday who will be sick of the sight of Handré Pollard. The 30-year-old fly-half returns to the stadium with Leicester six weeks after his accuracy from the tee kept the Springboks out of reach against England, his goalkicking once more a dagger to the heart of Steve Borthwick. That his opposite number will be Harlequins’ Marcus Smith only heightens the sense that England’s bete noire is back.
As was the case in the 2023 World Cup semi-final, Pollard began November’s victory over England on the bench, only to come on and turn the screw from the tee. He is the elder statesman of South Africa’s pool of No 10s but is at home playing the role of safe hand on the tiller, just when Rassie Erasmus needs it. For the Springboks it has been a year of experimentation, all the while maintaining their place at the top of the world rankings, but Pollard’s reliability, whenever Erasmus calls upon him, has been consistent. Cast your eye around the global game and there are no better candidates to shoot for goal if your life depended on it than South Africa’s double World Cup winner.
“I’ve always enjoyed that part of the game,” says Pollard. “You play a lot throughout your career to get to those moments. The mindset is that some guys fear those moments, I just enjoy them. Your team backs you 100%, if you get it it’s great. But it’s something you’ve done thousands of times before, you’re going to do it thousands of times again and you’re probably going to miss another 100 times.
“They are big pressure moments but you’ve got to embrace it. It’s why we do what we do, when you’re a five-year-old kid practicing in the back yard, that’s what you were imagining. Not a kick in the first five minutes of the game. You’ve just got to enjoy it.”
Two World Cup winners’ medals no doubt help to instil such a phlegmatic approach, so too the fact that Pollard has endured some desperate lows with the Springboks to put their current highs in perspective. He immediately highlights the 57-0 loss to New Zealand in 2017 as the nadir of his international career which serves as a reminder that South Africa’s rise to world dominance began from a low footing. “Because we went through that we appreciate the good times a lot more now,” adds Pollard. “It was really bad in 2016 and 2017. We had a lot of learning to do but that’s a reason we don’t take it for granted.”
Pollard has endured his fair share of long-term injuries too so the past 12 months or so in which he has remained injury-free has enabled him to make an impact for club and country. Like Michael Cheika, it remains to be seen whether Pollard will be at Welford Road next season but his recent performance in the 56-17 win against the Sharks demonstrated that a question mark over his future is not proving a distraction.
Last time out Leicester were shellshocked by free-wheeling Bristol, however, ensuring the clash with Harlequins in the London club’s annual festive fixture at Twickenham takes on greater significance. For when the Premiership was paused for the autumn internationals, Leicester were riding high in second after a Pollard-orchestrated away victory over Saracens.
Defeats by Sale and Bristol have followed in their two December Premiership fixtures but victory over Harlequins on Saturday would set the Tigers up nicely for 2025 and a tilt at returning to Twickenham in June in Cheika’s first season in charge. Pollard was absent for the start of the season due to his Rugby Championship commitments but was taken aback by how quickly Cheika had made an impact upon his return.
“He completely changed the mindset of the group, which was needed,” says Pollard of his head coach, who replaced Dan McKellar in the summer after Leicester endured a trying season last term. “He gets it. He’s an experienced guy, he understands professional sport, he understands people better. I didn’t know him personally beforehand but the way he manages the team, the way he knows how to get the best out of everyone, I’ve really appreciated that and as players you react to that.
“He’s just a really enjoyable guy to play for and in a long season that helps a lot. There are going to be ups and downs along the way but as long as the environment is positive and it’s a good place to be you’re probably going to be in and around the top four. It’s going back to emotionally connecting with players in a certain way, knowing how to get the best out of them in the last few minutes of the game.”
The contrast in styles between Pollard and Smith makes for a fascinating contest at Twickenham. Smith repeatedly produced moments of magic during a difficult autumn campaign for England, often sparking something from nothing, and his approach is unlikely to differ as he returns to HQ in club colours. Pollard, meanwhile, is a more structured fly-half but has honed his skills in Super Rugby, the Top 14, Japan’s Top League as well as the international stage and relishes the different challenges posed in the Premiership.
“Some guys might be better suited to playing in other parts of the world but for me, I enjoy the chess game of it,” he says. “That was one of the reasons I came here. I’ve had a great experience so far and I’m just looking forward to the future.”
