Pollard has been in the trenches already this season and come out stronger. He will do so again.
Next week’s URC final will be the Bulls’ fourth but Handré Pollard’s first. Picture: Mark Scates/SNS Group via Getty Images
The Bulls will need Handré Pollard to bounce back from an off day with the boot in the United Rugby Championship (URC) semifinal against Glasgow Warriors if they are to win their final against Leinster next week.
The Springbok ace, whose longstanding dependability in front of goal was underlined by his 13 successful kicks from 13 attempts at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, overcame early-season struggles to sit third on the URC’s points-scoring chart this year.
He goes into the final match on a tally of 127 points after scoring three tries, 12 penalties and 38 conversions.
Pollard slotted seven out of eight kicks in the Bulls’ quarter-final against Munster, for an impressive 87.5% success rate. That 15-point tally no doubt boosted the team’s confidence, though the forwards won the day at Loftus.
Pollard hits 43% in semifinal
Pollard had a poorer showing in Edinburgh.
The Bulls led the semifinal 22-21 for the last 27 minutes. There, with the next score being crucial, Pollard missed three consecutive penalty kicks – two dragged wide and one bouncing back off the posts.
Coach Johan Ackermann was right in saying that one under-par performance did not make him a bad player.
But while he said a positive was that those missed penalties kept Glasgow in their own half, the story would have been different if the Scottish side had managed a late try.
Thankfully for Bulls fans, that didn’t happen.
But Pollard’s three-out-of-seven return (43%) was below par for the double World Cup winner.
Bulls ace has big-match temperament
Fortunately for the Bulls, the flyhalf has been plying his trade for so long, and possesses such a wealth of international experience, that he will not need to be told to lift his game.
Nor is he likely to need extra kicking practice in training. He has the skill. He simply needs to reset mentally, which will be all the easier thanks to the longer break before the final.
It will be the Bulls’ fourth URC final, but Pollard’s first. But if the man can win World Cup finals for his country, he can do the same at franchise level for the Bulls.
