HENRY Pollock scored two tries on his England debut in the 68-14 destruction of Wales at the weekend.
The 20-year-old Northampton Saints flanker, who was born in Banbury, became the youngest player to score for England in a men’s Six Nations game, beating the previous record set by Henry Arundell against Italy in 2023.
Pollock joined the Saints’ senior academy ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, having been within the academy set-up since his Under-13 season.
He debuted for the first team in the 2022/23 Premiership Rugby Cup a season before signing his first professional contract, and made a further four appearances in the 2023/24 campaign, including a Premiership debut against Leicester Tigers. This season, Pollock has four tries in 14 appearances.
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Despite the heavy win for England, they were edged out by France for the Six Nations title, after France’s 35-16 bonus point victory over Scotland on Saturday evening.
England made a fast start, monopolising possession and taking a third-minute lead when Maro Itoje picked up and dived over from close range, with Fin Smith converting.
Wales thought they had scored an equalising try five minutes later when full back Blair Murray ran in unopposed from 40 metres, but the score was ruled out for scrum half Tomos Williams being offside.
England made the most of their reprieve and quickly scored again as Smith’s floated pass took out three home defenders and Tom Roebuck crossed for a try on his first Test start, and the fly half converted.
Wales broke through nine minutes before half-time courtesy of a brilliant pass from Williams which found Ben Thomas and he had a simple finish.
But Welsh cheers were short-lived, with England establishing a 26-point lead by the break as Tommy Freeman, Chandler Cunningham-South and Will Stuart breached the Welsh defence.
Wales tried to fight their way back during the third quarter, yet wing Ellis Mee was guilty of blowing a gilt-edged try chance by ignoring an unmarked Joe Roberts and Aaron Wainwright outside him.
And England made their opponents pay as Alex Mitchell broke clear for try number six, converted by Smith, to hit 40 points.
Wales’ misery was not complete though, with scores from Pollock and Joe Heyes bringing up the half-century, before Pollock and Cunningham-South completed the rout with their second tries.
Senior England debut ✅
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 15, 2025
First England try ✅
A day Henry Pollock will never forget!#WALvENG | #GuinnessM6N pic.twitter.com/LZMw0v3H7g
England head coach Steve Borthwick said: “I wanted the players to play big and fast, aggressive with the ball and that’s exactly what they did.
“That’s a sign that this young team just embraces challenges, and it is growing and developing fast.
“I think the team has been progressing for a period of time. You can see that growth.
“We were just falling short before of getting those actual wins, but the team has stuck to the process.”
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