There were a couple of Northampton Saints shirts among the 2,000 fans packed into the O2 Arena to listen to the British & Irish Lions squad being revealed.
Cheers greeted each name. But when Lions tour manager Ieuen Evans read out Henry Pollock's name, it felt like the whole of Northampton was packed into the place. Pollock's name triggered a humungous roar.
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It was the box office pick out of the 38 names.
On one hand it looks like a gamble: Pollock is 20 years old and has 32 minutes' worth of Test experience.
But those who saw Northampton's win over Leinster on Saturday saw Pollock in full flight, and knew that head coach Andy Farrell had no choice but to pick him.
A quick rise
Pollock's trajectory has been rapid.
On Jan. 21, 2023, Northampton Saints' first-team lost to La Rochelle 31-13 at Franklin's Gardens. There was another match later in the day on that pitch as Northampton's Under-18s played the Midlands Central Academy. One of the Northampton staff came up to us and told us to keep an eye on the captain.
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"That blonde lad is going to be a household name."
You hear this a lot in sport: tyros tipped for greatness by those close to them. But you could quickly see this young man was special: there was this energetic, abrasive, confident blonde chap in Northampton's pack, who was just everywhere. Pollock's name popped up in the next 18 months, picked for the England U20s, getting Gallagher Premiership minutes and being mentioned in the corridors of Twickenham as a future England player.
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By the time this year's Six Nations ticked around, he started the campaign with the U20 side, but finished it by being named on the first-team's bench for their trip to Wales. The Principality Stadium claustrophobia can do strange things to youngsters -- just ask Mathew Tait in 2005. Pollock came on, smiled at himself on the big screen, and scored two tries.
About 45 minutes after his double, he spoke to a small group of reporters in the bowels of the stadium. He wore his ceremonial England cap, greeted us with a dap, and said he was hopeful he'd get a start on England's summer tour, if picked.
At that stage, Tom Curry and Ben Earl were likely Lions tourists, leaving room for Pollock in that back-row for the matches against Argentina in July. Any thoughts of greater Lions honours for Pollock were still a dream. But this young flanker is ripping up the established order.
"A lovable d---head"
Since that Wales match, Pollock-mania has gone into overdrive.
There have been the highlight reels, like his try against Sale Sharks as he danced through the defensive line and chipped the last defender to dot the ball down.
There was also his provocative score against Castres as he taunted the opponent by waiting until the last moment to dot the ball down for a try, dodging the last-gasp attempt to embarrass him, and then marked it with a basketball celebration.#
After scoring against Leinster, he touched his neck, feeling his pulse. These Pollock-isms are starting to be seen in school matches the country over. The younger generation love him -- he's by far Northampton's most-followed player on Instagram, with 23,000 more followers than Fin Smith.
He is unashamedly himself. On a recent podcast, Pollock was asked if he's a "good bloke or a d---head?"
Pollock responded: "A bit of both, a loveable d---head."
One source told ESPN: "If you don't know him, you want to hate him, but as soon as you meet him you can't help liking his energy and personality. He's ridiculously competitive with everything."
On the eve of the Lions squad announcement, Northampton posted a video on their social channels showing the changing room at half-time in Dublin.
Pollock is calm, but the whole room is hanging on his every word. It was like listening to a young Owen Farrell on that 2013 Lions tour again.
"Let's be ultra critical on our discipline, these ------ will go away," Pollock said. "I promise you, they're going to start s------- themselves 10,15 minutes into this half."
And so it proved.
Now Farrell wants Pollock to shake things up on tour. The battle for the back-row has now got even more interesting. The Lions have a rich history of bolters, players who break through late and gatecrash the squad. There was Jason Robinson in 2001, John Bentley in 1997, Martin Johnson in 1993. Now it's Pollock's chance to join that group.
"If you're good enough, you're old enough," Farrell said. "When you see a player performing like he has, it doesn't matter what age [they are]. People have been waiting to see whether he can do it in the big games, or week after week, it's there for all to see.
"I've heard a lot of stuff about young kids that are coming through -- he's confident, he's cocky. This is not just about Henry, this is about youngsters in general. But what do we want? Do we want a kid to show his confidence as a 23-year-old, 24-year-old instead of 20?
"It's just about the here and now, isn't it? If he's performing against the type of quality that he has been doing, then he's ready. He's ready to compete. I think you'll see the fight in him. I'm sure he'll push all the others that didn't realise that he was coming. I'm sure that he'll relish that."