Pollard dreams of facing Lions: 'I was 15 when Steyn kicked over that penalty'

Springbok flyhalf Handre Pollard says playing in next year's series against the British & Irish Lions would be a dream come true.

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Via a podcast for SA Rugby, Pollard said after South Africa's World Cup celebrations last year the team immediately shifted focus to the Lions tour in 2021.

"It was probably the first thing we spoke amongst each other after we won the Rugby World Cup," said Pollard.

"We said to each other, 'listen the Lions are coming next year and it's going to be awesome!' It's a childhood dream of mine to play for the Springboks in a Lions series."

The Lions last toured South Africa in 2009 when the Springboks won the series 2-1. It was clinched in the second Test in Pretoria when Morne Steyn kicked a long-range penalty at the death for a 28-25 win.

Pollard recalled that incident: "I was 15 when Morne Steyn kicked over that penalty at Loftus to clinch the 2009 series. At that time, I was just a young boy wanting to play the game and dreaming of playing for the Springboks one day - it is the kind of stuff that just stuck in your head and it has never gone away."

"The possibility and realisation of being part of something like that would be like a dream come true, really,."

Pollard, who is currently in France at Top 14 club Montpellier, added that he hoped rugby could find a way back in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis.

"Hopefully, things will return to normal soon, and then I think the build up to the much-anticipated Lions series will be epic."

- Compiled by Sport24 staff