EXCLUSIVE: What Tigers will lose and Bulls will gain

Today at 04:54 AM

Veteran Argentina hooker and regular Los Pumas captain Julian Montoya believes Leicester Tigers' loss is the Bulls' gain.

Montoya, in an interview with @rugby365com, spoke about the void Handre Pollard will leave when he departs Leicester Tigers after the Premiership season to join the Bulls.

Former Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer earmarked Pollard as a superstar in his teenage years.

The former Western Province junior player made the move to Pretoria after school, where he represented UP Tuks in the Varsity Cup and, subsequently, the Bulls in 2013.

The former Junior Springbok played in three World Rugby Under-20 championship campaigns, winning the first - the only title for South Africa - in his first season.

The Baby Boks beat their New Zealand counterparts in the Final at Newlands in 2012.

He scored 12 points with the boot (three penalties and a drop-goal) to end New Zealand's five-year dominance in the competition.

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In 2014, he played his third campaign as a Junior Bok and came agonisingly close to beating England - as the South Africans went down by 20-21 in the Final.

In that same week, Pollard got his national call-up and made his Test debut against Scotland in a 55-6 rout.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Montoya had heaps of praise for Pollard, not only for his on-field presence but also for what he means off the field for his teammates and the club.

That will ultimately be the Bulls' gain when he returns to Pretoria ahead of the 2025/26 URC season.

"Polly [Handré Pollard], first of all, is a great guy," the veteran Los Pumas skipper told @rugby365com.

"He's one of my closest friends I have at Leicester [Tigers]. He's a lovely man and great to have around.

"As a player, there's not much more I can say that you haven't seen.

"He's experienced, he knows the game very well, and his kicking is amazing.

"He's going to be a big loss for sure.

"We still have big games to play, and we're looking forward to that.

"Hopefully, we can use his experience and quality to give back to the team and get the victories we're looking for."

The Premiership giants are currently fourth in the standings and have a Round of 16 knockout clash in the Champions Cup against URC title holders Glasgow Warriors, with Pollard steering the ship for most of the season.

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Montoya spoke about the team's goals for the respective tournaments.

"Our goals, first and foremost, are our clash against Northampton [Saints] away, that's the most important game that we have.

"We are using this break to get better and work on things we need to improve on and have momentum heading into the play-offs.

"We had some tough results in the past couple of games, but we are still alive in both competitions, and we want to be the best we can be to win matches.

"Of course we want to win trophies, but the thing for us is to put in the work and try and be better.

"The only thing we can do is try and improve every day to give ourselves an opportunity to win.

"That will hopefully give us a chance to get into a Final."

@AngyboyJ
@rugby365com

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