Henry Pollock's positive change of behaviour pleases Phil Dowson

Northampton boss Phil Dowson praised Henry Pollock’s growing maturity after the England back row played an influential role in Saints clinching a second Gallagher Prem final appearance in three years.

A gripping 45-31 victory over Leicester at Franklin’s Gardens propelled Northampton into the Allianz Stadium showpiece next Saturday when they will face either Bath or Exeter.

Fin Smith was named of the match in front of England head coach Steve Borthwick but Pollock was exceptional and finished the East Midlands derby with a remarkable 26 carries.

A month ago the 21-year-old British and Irish Lions player was criticised for a fiery cameo off the bench in a 41-17 rout by Leicester that saw him become embroiled in several flashpoints.

But Dowson said: “Henry was excellent and what pleases me most is that – I’m not going to use the word vilified – a lot of flak came his way after the game at Welford Road.

“You can talk about loads of things that Henry does really well but his ability to learn from experience and apply that very quickly and effectively, how he talks to referees has changed in probably about three weeks.

“How he deals with confrontations has changed a little bit as well. I hope that gets noticed, as well as how quickly he matures and makes those decisions. I’m really pleased that he’s a bright lad.

“His power per kilogramme is nuts, as are his ability to beat players with his speed and his ability to understand when to pass the ball and when not to.

“He’s never looked for controversy. I don’t think he’s gone out there and gone, ‘I’m going to wind up Ollie Chesham and see what happens here’.

“He’s under more scrutiny than probably anybody else potentially in the league and I think he’s dealt with it really well.”

Northampton finished the regular Prem season at the top of the table and have now produced a statement win in the play-offs that indicates they will be the team to beat at Twickenham.

Player Carries

1

Henry Pollock

23

2

George Martin

13

3

Joaquin Moro

13

Dowson said: “We’re delighted and probably a little bit relieved as well. The expectation is you have a home semi and you’re supposed to win those.

“To put that performance together and to stick at it under some decent pressure – very proud, delighted and relieved.”

Leicester brought out the best in Northampton with a thunderous performance that left boss Geoff Parling with mixed emotions.

Parling said: “Devastated. The group has been an unbelievably good group that’s just worked hard for each other and just to fall now hurts.

“But also I’m incredibly proud because of the way the group has gone about the business over the year when everyone at the start of the season wrote us off.”