Johnny Sexton reveals 'weird' friendship with Henry Pollock as England star named for first start against Ireland

Pollock is set to make his first England start this Saturday, as Steve Borthwick hands him the number eight jersey for when his side hosts Ireland for a third round clash in the 2026 Guinness Men's Six Nations. Sexton was today asked about what Pollock is like to get to know away from the pitch, and what threats Ireland expect the 21-year-old to bring to Saturday's clash at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

"He’s a great character. Yeah, I got on with him great on the Lions tour in a weird kind of way. He’s an outstanding player, full of talent, full of energy, I think this is his first start, it’s different from the start. It can be tougher, the game is at a different pace when he’s been coming on. But he’s been outstanding for Northampton for the last couple of years. But I’m sure he’ll go well and we have to understand the threat he’ll bring and try and nullify it."

Sexton did not hesitate in expressing how taking on England in South West London is quite a tough task. The last time Ireland travelled out to Twickenham, the last-minute drop goal heroics of Marcus Smith snatched a dramatic home victory, with Sexton hoping to see his side go one better than in 2024.

"Any time you go to Twickenham is a huge challenge, no matter where you are or what stage of a World Cup cycle it is. It's always a big challenge. I think we'll take some good learnings from the French game. It's important we learn some lessons from that. And make sure we turn up, put our game plan into place, but also have the intent that we need to have when we go to an away venue like this."

Two Ireland stars who have once again been at the forefront of the mid-week preparations, are the fly half pairing of Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley. It is fair to say that Prendergast is currently experiencing a dip in form away from his high standards, as the Leinster man struggled at stages against France and Italy in the first fortnight of the 2026 Six Nations. Crowley helped Ireland turn the game around against the Azzurri this past Saturday, as Sexton revealed how he reviewed the match with the two out-halves.

"We wouldn't say too much straight after the game. We let things die down, then review it. We review it together very much. Those guys feed back to us as much as we feed back to them. Ultimately, we want to know why. Why some things went well, what can we do differently in our prep? As coaches, what do we need to do more of? All those type of things.

"Like you said there, both of them did some really good things, some work-ons, and some things they need to improve. It'll be like that for the rest of their careers right until the last day. It's always like that.

"Even if I go back to some of my experiences, you come off the pitch and you think you've had a great game but you get into a Monday review and the coaches have a few other ideas in terms of how things have gone. So, they'll learn from it and keep developing like they have been."