Pollock tipped to thrive with Lions

BRIAN O'Driscoll believes that rising star Henry Pollock can thrive in a Brit-ish and Irish Lions environment and will aim to ‘nail down’ a Test team place against Australia.

- by ANDREW BALDOCK, PA

Former Lions captain O'Driscoll, one of only three players to go on four tours, said he classed 20-year-old Pollock as ‘a shoo-in’ for the trip Down Under after watching his scintillating performances this season.

Northampton back-row forward Pollock has only played 32 minutes of Test rugby, but he scored two tries on his England debut against Wales and has proved a pivotal figure behind Saints’ run to the Investec Champions Cup final.

“It is an amazing story,” O'Driscoll told the PA news agency. “He wasn’t a Lions (selection) bolter, he was a shoo-in as far as I was concerned.

“It is his all-court game. It is not just the loping runs, the acceleration and the impact, it’s around the breakdown, his work-rate, his hunting down in defence. I have been so impressed with him.