In sport, age is an important aspect. If you're young, you are most likely to get picked for their energy and their positive outlook on life and career. On the downside, they're naive. Hence, they might act out in ways that aren't acceptable.
Being old is somewhat of a bad thing. While you have experience, you run the risk of being fragile. The main thing is that most teams want to prioritize youth and therefore being left out. The only reason why they would get picked is because they continue to play a key role in the team.
This past week has seen two examples of each. England duo of Henry Pollock (rugby union) and Liam Livingstone (cricket) have spoken out that has created major talking points.
Former England coach, Clive Woodward, said that rising star, Henry Pollock, needs to change his behaviour. Pollock drew attention during Englandās 48-46 defeat to France in the dramatic Six Nations finale, where his goading of the Paris crowd backfired spectacularly.
The 21-year-old loose forward is a lightning rod for opposition supporters and was constantly jeered at the Stade de France. He responded by gesturing towards and shushing fans after Tommy Freemanās late try put England ahead.
However, a costly error from Pollock with a minute remaining paved the way for Thomas Ramos to slot the decisive penalty to win the match and championship for France.
"I would definitely sit down Henry Pollock for more than a chat. All players have to do their talking on the pitch," Woodward wrote in his Daily Mail column.
"Pollockās baiting of the French crowd would have been fine if he had been on from the start and was delivering a world-class performance. But he hadnāt, and then he threw a silly pass which gave France the ball back, and from it Thomas Ramosā penalty won them the game."
"He is a brilliant player and I would want the real Pollock in the team, but not the current one who is fast becoming a liability. That has to change and quickly."
Even at the age of just 21, the Northampton Saints back-row has become a pantomime villain, particularly for those across the Channel, due to his on-field persona.
Pollock was booed when he was shown on the screen in the stadium and then when he entered the field in the second half of Englandās defeat to France in the Six Nations last Saturday.
Woodward also picked out Fin Smithās place-kicking as something which needs rectifying after it cost England in the Six Nations finale.
Rugby needs to take a hard look at itself. The peroxide-blond England backrow has had a trajectory matched by few contemporaries and with it has come adulation and 'social media fame' but such is sportās fickle nature, that opprobrium has duly followed.
Indeed, the further Pollock has soared, like Icarus, towards the heat of rugbyās traditional heartlands, with his perceived cock-of-the-walk hubris, the more he has enraged the gameās antediluvian leanings, with critics intent on clipping his wings and bringing him back down to earth.
In the aftermath of a barely believable encounter with France, which was settled by Thomas Ramosā metronomic right boot, the Pollock hate mob tooled up, pitchforks ready and spat out venom online about what they see as this over-indulged, over-hyped chancer.
Crime no. 1 was celebrating provocatively with his club colleague, Tommy Freeman, who ran under the sticks for what looked like the winning try with just over three minutes left on the clock. Catch a freezeframe of Pollockās last nine Tests and youāll routinely see him launching himself on the shoulders of a try-scorer, especially at the Allianz in Twickenham.
As a fleet-footed 7, who is routinely a support runner, itās hardly sacrilegious to get lost in the emotion of a potentially match-winning score, especially at the riotously febrile Stade de France. That rush of adrenaline coursing through the veins and to have their competitive instincts sated, if only for a fleeting moment.
Itās not like the French crowd were innocent bystanders, either. They were whistling their dissent long before heād even entered the field of play, as they did in Bordeaux, with his club side, Northampton, earlier this year. No-one quite knows what he has done to affront the French rugby nationbut the assumption is itās for one flashy celebration too many.
Crime no. 2 occurred just minutes later, with the young Northampton Saintās accuracy found wanting as he spilt the ball just 58 seconds before full-time. This after he had already pulled off a match-saving tackle on Antoine Dupont and expertly stolen the ball from Thibaud Flamentās mitts and peeled away to keep it alive.
Granted, he could've gone to ground and recycled but he made a hash of it. Yet, when reviewing the tape, Cadan Murley may also rue rashly hacking the ball onwards in chaotic scenes; before France reclaimed it and Ramos broke English hearts.
Pollock, who turned 21 two months ago, said he is unrepentant about his exuberant āpulse checkā celebrations. He said he does it not for himself but for the greater good. To spread the gospel of the game far and wide. When the USA, a country that exults in individual brilliance, hosts the 2031 World Cup, he will be 26 and at his peak.
Similar to Louis Rees-Zammit, another individual unafraid to go off-script, he hopes some showmanship will help rugby transcend its conservative, cosseted, closed-off garden.
Fans and journalists alike love to bemoan the fact rugbyās stars are muzzled by overly officious media personnel or militarily briefed to churn out bland platitudes in press conferences that force the eyelids to shutter and yet the moment they unearth a gem like Pollock, happy to show off his personality and ruffle feathers, those same nay-sayers, who rail against rugbyās straitjacket, turn into the fun police. They cut him down to size for having the temerity to indulge in, deep breath, football-like behaviour.
Pollock is far from a bad lot. He willingly gives up his time for interviews, clearly cares about his team-mates ā as witnessed by him consoling George Ford who endured a difficult day against Ireland ā and is said by many of those who know him as a likeable energiser and far more thoughtful than the agent provocateur he plays up to on the field.
Clearly, heās maybe too brash for some but watch old footage and he was swan-diving after scoring outrageous tries for Stowe, in front of a smattering of supporters. He doesnāt just play to the cameras. Like a labrador puppy, he just loves his rugby.
Rugby likes to champion itself as an inclusive sport. One for all shapes and sizes, but surely this extends to personality-types. This writer has his doubts.
While Pollock says the biting criticism doesnāt affect him, he is human, and he will, at some point, be minded to retreat into his shell, fall into line and conform. The upshot is rugby loses another figure who brings eyeballs to a sport fighting an ever tougher battle for shortening attention spans.
Ireland fans, in particular, are absolutely furious at England flanker Henry Pollock following the sensational denouement to the 2026 Guinness Six Nations.
Irish rugby fans found themselves in the awkward position of supporting England in the match with France, an English win more or less handing the trophy to Ireland, who had earlier that day dispatched Scotland 43-21 in Dublin.
However, it didnāt quite go to plan, despite Englandās heroic performance in Paris.
What has sparked uproar online is the moment, with barely a minute left and England leading, that Pollock chose to move the ball rather than simply hold on.
After brilliantly ripping the ball, instead of taking contact and burning precious seconds, he flung a risky offload that not only went forward but handed possession straight back to France. A few phases later, Maro Itoje was penalised, and Thomas Ramos stepped up to nail a 45 metre penalty, sealing a dramatic French win and Six Nations title and denying Ireland the championship.
Speaking on RTE, former British & Irish Lions flanker, Stephen Ferris, said: āIt was around the halfway line, Pollock got a rip on the ball and stole the ball. Instead of just putting the head down and taking it into contact, going two or three phases and kicking the ball out, the game would have been over, he went for a pass.
"Him shushing the crowd after the try came back to bite him unfortunately and it cost Ireland the championshipā¦ Heās the type of player where it doesnāt matter if itās the first minute or the 80th minute, heās going to try and run over somebody or score a try from his own tryline if he could."
"You donāt want to take that out of a player either, but at the same time heās got to understand the current situation that his team are in."
It was a sentiment that was echoed online.
One account wrote: "I am genuinely lost for words. Ireland would almost certainly have won the championship but for this moment of absolute madness. Perhaps the rugby gods did curse Pollock for the hubris of that celebration."
Karl Brophy wrote: "Iāve just realised why Henry Pollock inexplicably threw the ball away last night when all he had to do was keep possession for Ireland to win the championship."
Humble Leinster Supporters Club wrote: "There was less than a minute left in the game and Pollock throws a loose pass instead of going into contact. Thatās how close we were."
Others defended him.
Welsh rugby journalist and writer, Simon Thomas, defended Pollock: "It would seem that the initial penalty was for a high tackle by Atkinson a couple of phases before the ref actually signalled it, while the match winning kick was landed from where a subsequent offence was committed ā Itojeās deliberate knock on."
His shushing of the crowd after Tommy Freemanās try earlier in the game was also hotly debated, one French fan writing: "Sorry, but I love it. The Stade de France didnāt stop whistling at him; he just responded. Rugby is a game for him. He lost tonight. But a lot of respect for Henry Pollock."
Another fan wrote: "This [the steal] was great from Pollock and he was unlucky spilling the pass. For most players great kudos for the steal but itās the added extras that cost him. The shushing of the French crowd is just crass and graceless."
No one is saying Pollock shouldnāt pay due deference to the hard-worn traditions of a 200-year-old sport but rugby needs to look ahead and move with the times. It does itself a disservice if it plays curmudgeon every time a wunderkind with oodles of chutzpah dares to stray from the norm and donāt be surprised if the transient sports fan ventures elsewhere for its dopamine hit, bored with rugbyās mundanity.
Turning to cricket and England all-rounder, Liam Livingstone, has spoken out about the behaviour of the national set-up under the current regime.
Two phone calls, lasting a minute each. That, claims Liam Livingstone, is the sum total of his contact with England's management since his most recent international appearance 12 months ago.
Livingstone was dropped from England's white-ball teams last summer after a slump in form early last year as they lost 10 out of 11 games across a tour to India and the Champions Trophy. He accused England's management of a lack of "respect" in shirking "difficult conversations" since, and believes he is unlikely to play international cricket again under this regime.
Livingstone made several scathing claims about the England environment under head coach, Brendon McCullum and managing director, Rob Key. These include that:
- He was told he "cares too much" when asking coaches for advice
- "No one cares" about players outside of an inner circle
- Last year's Champions Trophy was "the worst experience" of his career
- The role he was given was "a waste" of his potential
After playing in five consecutive ICC events from 2021-25, including England's successful T20 World Cup campaign in 2022, he followed the most recent edition from home. "I didn't miss it one bit," he insisted, speaking days after England's semi-final exit to eventual champions India. "There wasn't any part of me that was wishing I was playing in that team, to be honest."
Livingstone said that McCullum phoned him last May to tell him he had been dropped for England's home series against West Indies: "I don't think it [the call] would have reached a minute. I asked why; they said they wanted to try someone else. That was off Baz. Wrighty [outgoing selector Luke Wright] didn't reach out and Brooky [captain Harry Brook] sent me a text.
"That probably sums that group up as a collective. Keysy said nothing - [he] said I'll speak to you in the summer. I actually rang him one day and he said he was busy at a Test camp at Loughborough. And then I didn't hear off him until the end of September."
"That was a bit of an eye-opening experience about the group and the regime: if you're in, you're in, and if you're not in, no-one cares about you. That put my mind at ease that my cricket was going to be more enjoyable going forward."
When Livingstone said in an interview with talkSPORT last summer that he didn't know where he stood with England, Key responded on the Sky Cricket podcast by inviting him to call him, saying: "I don't know if he's got a phone, if he's allowed to ringā¦If you want to find out where you are, you've got my number, mate."
They exchanged one more brief phone call in late September, with Key informing Livingstone that his central contract - which expired a week later - wouldn't be renewed. When Livingstone asked about the lack of communication over the summer, he claims that Key told him he had "100 more important things to do than speak to you".
The pair have not spoken since, though England insist that Livingstone - like all players - will still be considered for selection if he performs in domestic and franchise cricket. England also say that while Livingstone was in their set-up, he was regularly told that scoring runs consistently was his best route to a permanent spot.
The 32-year-old was highly critical of his interactions with director of cricket Rob Key and described his time at last year's Champions Trophy as "the worst experience I've had playing cricket".
Livingstone has exactly 100 caps for his country across all three formats but hasn't featured for his country in over a year and seems resigned to things staying that way.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) don't believe Livingstone's England career is over and he will remain under consideration if he performs well.
The ECB's Ashes review, covering "tour planning and preparation, individual performance and behaviours" after the 4-1 thrashing Down Under over the winter, is still ongoing.
Describing a lack of communication after his dropping in a brief phone call by head coach Brendon McCullum last May, Livingstone said: "I don't think it would have reached a minute."
"I asked why; they said they wanted to try someone else. That was off Baz. Brooky (captain Harry Brook) sent me a text.
"Keysy said nothing, said I'll speak to you in the summer. I actually rang him one day, and he said he was busy at a Test camp at Loughborough and then I didn't hear off him until the end of September.
"That probably sums that group up as a collective. That was a bit of an eye-opening experience about the group and the regime. If you're in, you're in, and if you're not in, no one cares about you. That put my mind at ease that my cricket was going to be more enjoyable going forward. I was asking for help and pretty much all I got was that I care too much and I need to chill out a little bit."
The ECB feel Livingstone has wrongly interpreted that conversation.
The big-hitting all-rounder remains in demand on the franchise circuit, including a Ā£1m IPL deal from Sunrisers Hyderabad and a Ā£350 000 bid from London Spirit at last week's Hundred auction.
"I still believe I'm one of the best players in white-ball cricket in England," Livingstone said. "Just because I'm not playing for England, because of a couple of people's opinions, it doesn't mean that I'm not good enough to do it."
As for his absence from the recent T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and India, where England reached the semi-finals, losing to India, Livingstone added: "I didn't miss it one bit. There wasn't any part of me that was wishing I was playing in that team, to be honest."
In an interview with Sky Sports News last summer, Livingstone said that "nobody has really reached out to me to tell me what I need to do or any reasons why".
Being a youngster in sport can be a dangerous thing. You're new to an environment and there's a possibility that you don't know how to act. In these situations, it's absolutely vital that they have a mentor to guide them until they have an idea on how things work.
I always find it fascinating when a former player opens the door on what an environment is really like behind closed doors. It might seem all rosy but behind closed doors; there might be a sense of unrest.
It might also create a fear among future stars as to what might happen to them if they're not performing.