'Just getting started' - Pollock signs new multi-year deal with Saints

Henry Pollock has signed a new multi-year contract extension with Northampton Saints that will see him stay at his boyhood club beyond this season.

Pollock has been a key part of the Saints side since bursting through as a 17-year-old in 2022, delivering a Player of the Match performance during their Gallagher PREM final victory last season.

The back rower already has 13 England caps and five British & Irish Lions caps to his name, with his growing appeal seeing him become the first rugby player to join Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Talent Agency earlier this year.

The deal is believed to be worth over £400,000 a year, Sky Sports understands.

Pollock previously said he had an open mind about next steps in his career, with Hearn labelling him worth at least £1m a year, but the 21-year-old is now looking forward to extending his time at Saints.

In a statement, Pollock said: "I'm massively happy to re-sign with Saints, my boyhood club. It's an exciting place to be right now. We're in a great spot as a team, but it feels like there's still so much more growth in us.

"I'm still young, and we've got a young squad with a brilliant group of lads. Some of my best mates are here, and every day everyone pushes each other to improve and be the best players and team we can be. For where I am in my career, this is exactly where I want to be.

"I feel like we're only just getting started. We won the PREM last season and we want to go again. Winning the Champions Cup is another huge ambition for us. We came so close a couple of years ago, and achieving that together would be incredibly special.

"I just want to enjoy every moment of this journey. I'm playing for my boyhood club, surrounded by great people, and that's something I never take for granted. The connections within this group are what make it such a special place."

Saints' Director of Rugby, Phil Dowson, added: "We're delighted that Henry has committed his future to Saints.

"Over the last few years, everyone has seen the quality he brings on the pitch and the speed of his rise through the game - but just as importantly, he's a young man of outstanding character.

"Keeping someone with both his talent and mindset is hugely important for the club."

'Rugby not used to Pollock and Hearn's contract posturing'

Sky Sports News' James Cole:

"Henry Pollock is a generational talent, only 21, such a key player potentially for England for the future.

"The uncertainly around his future began at the start of August when Eddie Hearn, who is now managing Pollock, said some interesting comments.

"He said Pollock was a £1m player, and at the time Pollock was negotiating a new contract with Northampton.

"That got everyone's heads turning and thinking: 'Well he's not going to be able to earn that at Northampton because the Premiership operates a strict salary cap - £6.4m per club which all player salaries must fall under bar one player known as a 'marquee player' - and Northampton already have Fin Smith as theirs, the England fly-half, so that wasn't an option.

"He'd have to leave Northampton, and he'd likely have to leave the Premiership, so you had this situation where suddenly Pollock's future was in doubt.

"It went a bit quiet, and then at the launch of Premiership, Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson said he thought Pollock was close to signing a new deal.

"That deal was this one, in excess of £400,000 a year, and that all made a lot of sense as it was treble what Pollock was earning, would see him stay at his hometown club and see him stay in England.

"It seemed to tick all the boxes from all sides and felt like the storm had passed, but then Monday of last week Pollock came out and said: 'Well actually, I'm weighing up my options. I'm not sure yet. I might go abroad still.'

"So then it all started unravelling again and we thought: 'Is he going to sign this deal or not?'

"Finally we got news today he has, and it's of little surprise when you think about it. That deal was too good to turn down, trebling his salary. He becomes one of if not the highest paid back-row players in the Premiership, at the age of 21.

"So I think what we've seen over the last month is Eddie Hearn doing his thing to get the best deal for his man. Using the media and the £1m price tag to get what is, essentially, a fantastic deal.

"Was he really contemplating leaving? Only Henry Pollock could tell us for sure. But the fact he has said today he's delighted to stay and it was an easy decision suggests to me that what we've seen over the last few weeks is quite alien to rugby: this public carrying out of and flexing, negotiating.

"Something common in boxing, not so common in rugby. Rugby isn't used to the sort of public posturing that Pollock and Eddie Hearn have engaged in over this new deal. It's very un-rugby. Very un-gentlemanly.

"It's got a few Northampton fans off-side, their backs up, but it's Henry Pollock and Eddie Hearn and is the way the world works now. The way rugby could well become as we go forward."