His performances have taken him from an England Under-20 squad member in early February to being talked up as a potential British & Irish Lions tourist when Andy Farrell unveils his squad for Australia next Thursday. Indeed, the Pollock highlight reel indicates a rampaging and hard-running physical threat, breakdown menace and exuberant personality. It also suggests the Leinster brains trust will have to have carried the same sort of surgical examination of opposition strengths which served them so well 12 months ago, when they did just about enough to nullify the impact of Saints scrum-half Alex Mitchell and the Northampton lineout at Croke Park at the same stage of the competition. The Saints academy graduate was still eight months away from his European debut when his club visited Dublin last May 4, but made a big impact when it came, at home to Castres last December, scoring a try from halfway. Northampton and England fly-half Fin Smith believes his team-mate has grown with every performance since and will not be easily fazed by the step up in challenge awaiting him in Aviva Stadium. “He's licking his lips for this weekend, 100 per cent,” Smith said. “Whenever the occasion's got bigger the performances have got better and I'd love for that to be the case again this weekend. “It's a funny one, there's probably not many other teams In the competition where the opposition I'd imagine will be talking about how they can get in the head of a 19-year-old or stop him from getting into his flow and having a good game but that's the position we're blessed to be in with such a talent. “I'm looking forward to see him go on Saturday. It certainly, won't be boring, whatever he's got planned. I'm sure there'll be some stupid celebrations and some antics along the way but we need the best of him on Saturday if we’re going to have a chance to compete. “He's been amazing. He's a real energy giver for us. His work at the breakdown is, I believe, the best in the competition and some of the carry metres, he’s got a very under-rated trait of being in the right place at the right time around a lot of the support lines he runs. So he reads the game really well for someone that's not played a load of professional games.” Saints director of rugby and former back-rower Phil Dowson is not surprised by his protégé’s rapid ascent, which he compared to that of Leinster’s young starting fly-half at the Aviva. “He’s very, very competitive, very, very confident,” Dowson said. “He wants to be front and centre, he wants to be in amongst it and he drives a great energy amongst the group. He's not dissimilar to Sam Prendergast in that no occasion seems to get to him. He wants pressure and he wants the big occasion. “I think he's a very, very talented young man, and he’s actually got his feet on the floor as well. “In terms of his rise, was I surprised? In a way, no, because he's always been that sort of character. He wants responsibility and wants to be in the centre of things, but it's been great to watch him get his first cap and to score his try on debut, to play in Europe, play in the Prem, score tries in the Premiership from 40, 50 metres out. “It's been a lot of fun coaching him and watching him.”