Saints star Pollock discusses throat grab incident that earned Bordeaux prop Poirot a ban

On Thursday afternoon, Poirot was banned for the final two weeks of Bordeaux's Top 14 regular-season campaign for grasping the throat of Pollock 'in a way that was dangerous and had the potential to cause serious harm'.

Earlier this week, Pollock explained what had happened following the final whistle of last Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup final at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

He told TNT Sports' Rugby Breakdown show: "The whistle goes, and obviously it’s pretty heated. I think Dingers (Fraser Dingwall) and (Matthieu) Jailbert were pushing and shoving.

"I went over to Jalibert, pushed him and got involved, and was like: ‘I’m not letting Dingers be on his own here.’

"And then as I’m doing this - I didn't know this in the moment, Fin (Smith) was looking around - apparently the loosehead (Poirot) was on the bench and beelined it straight to me."

Pollock added: "So we’re in this, and he basically grabs my neck and gets his hands on my throat and squeezes my neck. I wasn't happy with this, I was pretty angry.

"I managed to rip his shirt, and then the bit that you see is as he turns away, I push him, and then his friend comes in."

After the game, Saints boss Phil Dowson had said: "There was a fracas at the end, there was foul play involved. I have been assured that the touch judge has seen it and will deal with it appropriately.

“Henry Pollock was particularly upset by it because I think it was uncalled for and out of order. He reacted, and the officials have told me that they will deal with it.”

Touch judge Andrea Piardi was later talking to the Saints back row forward while he was sat on the turf, reflecting on his team's defeat.

Pollock said: "We had to do statements after. It was mad, you’ve just won the Champions Cup and the first thing you want to do is run on and strangle a 20-year-old."

Saints fly-half Fin Smith had echoed those thoughts in his own post-match interview.

Smith said: "They were after him (Pollock). I don’t think they liked him. He will be alright.

“I remember they (Bordeaux players) all sort of charged at him and were trying to get hold of him.

“I am surprised if you have just won a European Cup, the first thing you want to do is start a fight with a 20-year-old. I felt that was interesting.”

Bordeaux's targeting of Pollock didn't just come on the field, it came during their Champions Cup-winning celebrations, too.

Tevita Tatafu and Jalibert, and even head coach Yannick Bru, were pictured mocking Pollock's 'pulse check' try celebration, made famous after he scored against Leinster in the semi-final.

Tatafu has even been pictured holding up a card that read 'Pollock calma calma' while holding his own throat, seemingly referencing the incident involving Poirot.

And Tommy Freeman, who joined Pollock on the TNT Sports show this week, said: "I would actually say, if they want to do that and make you the front line of their celebrations, then fair play."

Freeman added that Pollock has 'got a bit of a target on his back, through no fault of his own'.

Fly-half Jalibert explained in his post-match interview why he and his team-mates had taken issue with Pollock.

"I told him that he didn't know our club," Jalibert said. "They said some things in the press which we didn't really appreciate.

"They said that we were a club of mercenaries who are here for the money. I just told him that he doesn't know our history, where we came from and that he must respect all clubs.

"I know it is their way of preparing for matches, but they must have respect too."

However, there has been no evidence to support Jalibert’s claims that Pollock said anything disrespectful about Bordeaux.

And at Tuesday afternoon’s Saints media session, Dowson said: "If someone can find that quote, I'll be really interested because it's certainly not something we've come across.

"From my point of view, I can only talk about what I said, but I would back the playing group to the hilt in terms of their manner.

"We've been very complimentary about Bordeaux – about their class and quality as a playing group but also as a club.

"I haven't seen any evidence and neither has the media team here that we've used that language, or even alluded to that, or even inferred that in the subtext so I don't think that's necessarily fair.

"Now, what they're driving as a narrative behind the scenes is different and is entirely their prerogative, but I don't think anyone from this group has suggested they're a group of mercenaries.

"Coaches pull on lots of levers - there's lots of times I've twisted different things.

"But I think that 1. Our group are principled enough not to describe anyone like that, and 2. They're not stupid enough to do it and motivate a group like that in a final. I just don't think we're that dumb.

"We're media savvy and well managed in that space, so I don't think that's happened.

"Coaches and management will pull loads of levers in order to get a response, and maybe that's what's happened."

On how 20-year-old back row forward Pollock has dealt with the attention the Bordeaux players have put on him, Dowson said: "It's an experience he'll learn from and I think he's bright enough and mature enough to deal with it.

"It speaks volumes about his performance levels throughout the season that he's garnered so much attention both with the media and with their team.

"It's a learning experience for him and he's getting a feel for what that looks like in future.

"The way he plays and the way he is as a person, it won't be the last time somebody responds to him, and that's actually really powerful for the game because lots of kids running around, wanting his shirt and dressing like Henry Pollock is very positive.

"There's lots of people on opposition sides who don't like him, that's going to happen.

"We normalise it, it happens and we get on with it."