'My advice to Henry': Lawrence Dallaglio hands Pollock 'be mindful' warning

Lawrence Dallaglio, one of the first English players to get a high-profile agent, has warned Henry Pollock that not even God could boost your earning potential if you are not delivering on the rugby pitch.

Pollock, the Northampton Saints and England back-rower, has signed up with boxing promoter Eddie Hearn to be part of the Matchroom Sports Agency, which aims to cash in on the 21-year-old’s current profile as the most recognisable face of English rugby.

Thirty years ago, Dallaglio was a groundbreaker joining one of the highest profile agencies, James Grant Media, co-founded by Russ Lindsay and DJ Peter Powell and its clients included well-known personalities such as Davina McCall, Louis Tomlinson, Tess Daly, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. Dallaglio’s own career took him from the back pages to tabloid front page headlines with various off-the-field problems which attracted attention and raised the game’s profile.

Hearn is bullish about the impact Pollock will make, but Dallaglio, a Premier Sports pundit, told RugbyPass: “You can have Almighty God representing you, but if you are not playing well and winning matches, then it doesn’t matter who is in your promotional team. It’s just not going to work, and that is my advice to Henry. I have been mildly amused by all this stuff about Henry, and I am a big fan of his and what he is doing in the game. The reality is that he is where he is because he is a very good rugby player, not because of anything else. There will be plenty of people who want to knock you down and what he has to focus on is winning games of rugby. Everything else will take care of itself.

“When I signed with Peter Powell and Russ Lindsay (at James Grant), I tried not to talk about it, and I was very wary that I was one of the few players with an agent. I told them I didn’t need wrapping in cotton wool, and we don’t need anyone to tell us when we have played well and haven’t because the scoreline does that. I said that I would focus on the scoreline and they could focus on anything else they thought might be of benefit, and that was the way the relationship started and why we were together for so long.”

Fixture

Investec Champions Cup

Northampton

12:00

3 Apr 26

Castres

All Stats and Data

Hearn is talking up the impact Pollock is going to have on rugby, but the youngster will have to do something truly remarkable to earn the right to stand alongside All Black legend Jonah Lomu, who took the sport to a whole new international level. “Jonah Lomu singlehandedly changed the face of rugby and when Mariah Carey was asking for his autograph and photo you knew the game had changed,” added Dallaglio.

“Eddie Hearn looks like he is a good guy, and I do know his father, Barry, and anything these guys get involved in tends to be successful. Let’s not forget they are in the showbiz part of sport, which is about taking sport and making it showbusiness and there is no doubt that rugby struggles a little bit with that idea. The most important thing is that if Henry keeps on doing what he is doing, then there is no doubt that people like Eddie and Matchroom will have an impact on the game. However, I do remember a certain Frank Warren getting involved in the game with Bedford, dipped his toe in the water and didn’t like what he saw and stuck with what he did know.

“If you have a speed dial over to Saudi Arabia and you want to inject a lot of money into rugby, then we need to let the superstars of the game develop naturally and organically, guys like Antoine Dupont and Matthieu Jalibert. For some reason in England, we like to knock our stars down a bit and have a go at them. I am a big fan of Pollock and he scores tries that other back-row forwards can only dream about, and if I were in his camp, I would tell him to keep on doing what he is doing and just be mindful that you have to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.

“That doesn’t mean you cannot celebrate a win or enjoy yourself with your team mates. I single-handedly wound up my opponents and the crowd, and I know how Henry feels, although it wasn’t all across social media as it is today. He is a breath of fresh air, and I cannot wait to see him in action on Friday night against Castres.”

The Catres players gave Pollock some rough treatment when they met at the quarter-final of the Investec Champions Cup last season, with Saints triumphing 51-16 and the blond-haired back-rower grabbing a couple of tries and delivering a basketball celebration which further wound up the French players. Dallaglio expects another home win in this last 16 tie, which offers the possibility of a quarter-final against Bath.

He said: “Castres are a slightly better side these days and beat Saracens (32-24), and maybe they have a less volatile way of playing. They are an archetypal French team who have won 10 and lost 10 games in the Top 14 this season. I love watching Saints and while the loss of Alex Mitchell and Alex Coles means they are not firing on all cylinders, I still feel they will have too much for Castres, even though Saints are huffing and puffing a bit.

“There is the chance of a Northampton v Bath quarter-final and an English team in the last four. Those two clubs represent the best chance of an English side lifting the Investec Champions Cup, and Saints have grown in stature in the competition, while Bath were my tip to win it last season but let me down a bit. Having won the Gallagher PREM and the European Challenge Cup last season, you feel they have the hunger and right attitude to go on and win it. It is going to take a hell of a team to beat the French monopoly at the moment and Bordeaux are still the team to beat in the competition and have been averaging nearly 50 points a game in their last five home games.“

Knock-out Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup rugby is live on Premier Sports this Easter weekend with quarter final places at stake. Lawrence Dallaglio is part of the 36-strong Premier Sports team bringing every minute of the drama from the biggest international club rugby games live across the UK and Ireland. Visit premiersports.com to join in from just £11.99 a month @PremSports.tv