Wales and Cardiff Rugby back row, Alex Mann, stated that he is keen for the “battle” that lies ahead for his side, but the eye-catching and flamboyant Henry Pollock has caught the 24-year-old’s eye.
Mann is expected to be named in Steve Tandy’s starting XV, which gets named on Thursday afternoon, as Wales head to Allianz Stadium aiming for their first win in the Six Nations since 2023.
He made his senior international debut against Scotland in 2024, before scoring off the bench against England seven days later in Wales’ last visit to Twickenham, which ended in a close 16-14 defeat.
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However, it’s a completely different scenario this time around for Wales, who head to the English capital on the back of winning just two of their last 23 matches. Steve Borthwick named his side for the contest on Monday afternoon and has employed Pollock on the bench for the meeting against the old enemy.
It’s a spot that, as an international player for England, he has been selected for on every occasion. Still, from there, the impact of the 21-year-old has always been of a high standard.
In the pair’s last meeting in Cardiff, he scored two of England’s 10 tries and, in doing so, picked up the title of becoming the senior men’s side’s youngest ever try-scorer. He’s a character who likes to ruffle a few feathers among players, but Mann stated he’s the same.
“Look, I spoke about this (incident with Eben Etzebeth) before when I did the Cardiff media. That stuff is just part of the game,” said Mann at Wales’ training base in the Vale of Glamorgan.
“I quite like trying to get under people’s skin, and I’m sure people try to do it to me as well.
“It is what it is, and I’m just looking forward to what’s ahead. I am not intimidated by much, to be honest with you.
“He’s (Pollock) obviously a really good player, but whoever I come up against, I always give my best, so that’s really good.
“I think we’re both niggly, it should be interesting. Some battle I’m looking forward to,” added Mann on facing Pollock, who has only 30 minutes of experience in the Six Nations.
Mann, who started in all four of Wales’ autumn matches last November, wore the six and seven jersey on two occasions. He could be coming up against Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill, and Ben Earl, with Pollock likely to be introduced later into the contest.
“They’re really good players, we know that, but I don’t really think we put too much energy into that.
“It’s all on us now, and what we can do rather than what they’re bringing. That’s the exciting bit for us as a group.”
Wales will be aiming to avoid a third consecutive wooden spoon, and that is the task for Tandy in his first Six Nations as head coach. They’ve got favourable home matches against Scotland and Italy, but they still haven’t looked likely in any of their matches of late.
There was a glimmer of hope against Ireland, which was Matt Sherratt’s first game in charge as Wales’ interim head coach, but that was soon forgotten after defeats to Scotland and England.
With dramatic victories against Japan in both Kobe and Cardiff last year, which ended the losing run that had become an unwanted hindrance for Tandy’s side in the past two championships, the pressure may be off for this championship.
“We have that inner belief as a group; it doesn’t really matter what other people say outside of this group because that’s irrelevant to us,” continued Mann.
“We know what we can do and the calibre of player we have got, so I think we have that self-confidence that we can go and put a performance in and turn teams over.
“I think that’s the exciting bit for us.”
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