‘Class and energy’ of 20-year-old Pollock place him in British and Irish Lions team

London — Henry Pollock’s class and energy were more important than his callow age, Andy Farrell said on Thursday after the 20-year-old England flanker was the standout selection in his 38-man British & Irish Lions squad to tour Australia.

Pollock, with only 32 minutes of international rugby under his belt and who was playing for England Under-20s earlier this year, has made an irresistible case since, capping it off with a superb display for Northampton against Leinster in the Champions Cup last weekend.

“I’ve watched him a couple of times live and I like what I see,” Farrell said after announcing his squad in front of 2,000 fans in London’s O2 Arena.

“He’s trying to make a difference, there’s an energy and a bounce about him and that’s what I like seeing in his game. If you are good enough, you are old enough.”

After confirming the widely expected appointment of England lock Maro Itoje as captain, the rest of the tourists were revealed in alphabetical order as forwards, then backs.

They comprised 15 Irishmen, including 12 from Leinster, 13 English, eight Scots and only two Welsh, a reflection of their dire run of 17 successive defeats.

In comparison with recent tours it is a relatively inexperienced group, arguably short on proven world-class talent but with a youthful energy that Farrell values.

There are 26 players on their first tour and nine on their second — most of those from the Covid-19-hit 2021 trip to SA — and Farrell said the influence of Itoje, the coaching team and the other players who have been exposed to the chaos and scale of a Lions tour, would be hugely important.

There was no place for Farrell’s son Owen or Ireland’s Sam Prendergast as the three flyhalf berths went to Marcus Smith, Fin Smith and Finn Russell.

Tomos Williams, who joins flanker Jac Morgan as the only Welshmen in the squad, will battle with England’s Alex Mitchell and Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park.

It must have been hard listening for Ben Curry, who missed out as his brother Tom made the list in the hyper-competitive back row area where England’s Ben Earl also made it.

Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu was included, despite missing the Six Nations with a chest injury. Fellow Scots Duhan van der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn, currently injured, also made the cut.

Utility back Elliot Daly was selected, along with Ireland’s currently injured winger Mack Hansen, and Scotland’s Darcy Graham was unlucky to miss out.

Farrell said he and his assistants had expected Wednesday’s last meeting to be a brief one to finalise outstanding issues, but said they were still going late into the evening.

“It went to the wire and it’s in our interest to do that,” Farrell said. “We wanted to give everyone time to reflect. There was credit in the bank for a lot of people, but knowing about injuries, etc, is also important. Form is part of the mix but not the be-all and end-all.”

Farrell said it was “devastating” for Ireland forward Caelan Doris, who had been vying with Itoje for the captaincy duties but was ruled out of the tour after suffering a shoulder injury at the weekend.

He used that as a reminder that Lions tour parties always change, often before departure, and urged those who had missed out to be ready for a call-up. The Lions kick off with a game against Argentina in Dublin on June 20.

They will have five tour games before the first Test in Brisbane on July 19. The second and third Tests are on July 26 and August 2.

Reuters