Playmaker Handre Pollard is flourishing at Leicester Tigers, showcasing a remarkable transformation from his underwhelming stint with Montpellier, writes MARK KEOHANE.
Writing for TimesLIVE, Keohane hails Pollard’s impact for Leicester, highlighted by his pin-point kicking in a narrow 20-19 victory against Harlequins on Friday.
Since joining the Tigers in October 2022, Keohane argues that the Springbok flyhalf has become a significant asset at the Premiership club, a stark contrast to his struggles at Montpellier in France’s Top 14.
He notes that Leicester seems to suit Pollard, and the injury curse that plagued him in France has been absent since the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Having played a key role in South Africa’s World Cup triumph, Pollard, alongside Bok and Tigers teammate Jasper Wiese, has seamlessly transitioned back into club rugby, and Keohane believes his stellar performances indicate a return to the “Polly of old”.
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“Handre Pollard is delivering big time for Leicester and he is the commanding presence that has the Tigers well positioned to challenge for the English Premiership title,” he writes.
“[Pollard] has been imposing and a point of difference for Leicester, which is everything he wasn’t at Montpellier in France’s Top 14.
“Pollard at Leicester has been everything Montpellier would have imagined they were getting when they signed him in 2019 in a transfer that made him the highest paid player in the sport.
“The Pollard who belatedly arrived in France for the World Cup in October has not looked in the rear-view mirror and he has continued to show his class … post the World Cup. To quote Bok halfback partner Faf de Klerk, ‘it is the Polly of old’.”
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