Even with the strapping around his head, Henry Pollock's bleached hair was unmissable.
England had enjoyed a good first half against the Wallabies at Twickenham. They were 19-10 to the good, the only blemish being the intercept try they conceded on the stroke of half time and the injury to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
His spot as winger was one of the few positions not covered by a specialist on England's bench. Before the Wallabies match, Steve Borthwick said that if they needed reinforcements on the wing, then Pollock would get the nod, a man who had never started a professional match there and is usually found in the hustle and bustle of the back-row.
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But a 20-minute run at the end of one of the England training sessions in the week was enough to prove to Borthwick that Pollock could stomach it, if required. Borthwick had namechecked the possibility previously but still, in the red-hot environment of Test rugby, it wasn't an easy audition: Max Jorgensen was his opposite number, a brilliant 30-cap Test winger.
Pollock doesn't shy away from challenges, but he did need a little help from his teammates. As he lined up for the start of the second half, Henry Slade shouted at him. Pollock's positioning was slightly off. The 21-year-old gave him a thumbs up and trotted about 10 metres further forward in preparation for the restart. A little under an hour later, and Pollock had scored twice ("they were tap-ins bro" was Fin Smith's tongue-in-cheek assessment), collected a crosskick from Marcus Smith and nutmegged Tom Wright for what was close to being his hat trick try.
He smirked at the replay. Pollock was in his element.
But through that cameo on the wing, Pollock became the latest player to slot into the "hybrid" category -- a player who can play in both the forwards and backs. "Hybrid players have been around for a long time," Stade Français head coach Paul Gustard told ESPN. "It's not anything new this, but we talk about it a lot more now as it's more obvious: forwards playing the backs or vice versa."
We've seen players shift positions permanently before. Richie Vernon became the first Scottish player since the 19th century to be capped as a starter in both the forwards and backs as he transitioned from No.8 to the centres. Tom Youngs started as a centre and ended up at hooker for England and the British & Irish Lions. Radike Samo, the ageless Wallaby, was capped on the wing and in the back-row. We've also seen disastrous gambles: think Italy's Mauro Bergamasco, a flanker playing at scrum-half against England back in 2009.
But there's little doubt that in the last seven years across the last two World Cup cycles we're seeing more of these types of players coming through. The Springboks under Rassie Erasmus have mastered it: Kwagga Smith and Andre Esterhuizen have both played in the forwards and backs. Deon Fourie's ability to play hooker and back-row meant the Boks only took two specialist hookers to the 2023 World Cup and that didn't end too badly, with Fourie playing 75 minutes of the final in his less accustomed hooker spot.
"You can call him a hybrid player, but he is a backline player who can also play in the forwards now," Erasmus said of Esterhuizen.
For the player himself, the transition took a while to adjust to.
"It was obviously an interesting decision," Esterhuizen said last year. "Luckily, the size makes it easier to be able to do that... For me, it was quite natural. Obviously, there are a few things to learn still and to pick up. But it is tough ... It's a lot different than the backs' training sessions. I quite like it. It gives myself a bit more chance to get into the team. For me, wherever I go, 12 or 6, I'm just happy to play."
What hybrid players also offer coaches is to change the make-up of their bench. If you have a player like Esterhuizen who can cover back-row and the centres, then you can perhaps weigh your bench differently. The Boks have had seven forwards and one back on the bench previously. England went with a 6-2 split against Australia due to Pollock's versatility.
Pollock's adjustment was aided by his Northampton Saints teammate Tommy Freeman (and those pointers from Slade).
"It's the kind of challenge I like, to put myself out of my comfort zone," Pollock said after the Wallabies match. "Me and Freemo swapped [wings]. He'd be on the left sometimes and I'd be on the right. I was trying to make my job as easy as possible and Freemo did a great job in that."
From a coach's point of view, when assessing potential hybrid contenders they weigh up the player's profile, their intelligence and their tactical versatility. As one experienced coach told ESPN, you look for "fast forwards, tough backs." Fiji had this benefit with the great Levani Botia who could play in just about any position on the field but made the shift from the centres to the back-row.
"I'm focused on the forwards. Right now, I've just closed the book on the backline, stick to what the coach wants and follow the gameplan. It's easy for me," Botia told ESPN in 2023. France have benefited from Sekou Macalou's versatility too.
Macalou, who plays for Gustard at Stade Français, is someone who can run at 36 km/h, weighs 112kgs and stands at 6-foot-4.
"I've had Macalou playing wing, back row and as a centre," Gustard says. "You always try and look for competitive advantage in a game, and you get that through strategy, both on field and in the make-up of your team. Ball in play time and the physical demands are increasing. You look for an opportunity to try and select differently to try and exploit, maximise or extinguish threats, weaknesses, opportunity."
Positions are far more fluid -- set pieces use locks at first receiver. Needs and requirements shift depending on where you are in the field. Sometimes it's ideal to punch through a door, other times it's best to pick the lock. "Everyone is morphing into some sort of hybrid player at the minute," England fly-half George Ford said in February.
"It's great for the game because of the options it gives you, the variety it gives you. The athleticism of them all hopefully leads to more entertaining attacking opportunities and getting the ball back quicker, hopefully scoring more tries."
But will these hybrids become the norm? Will we see positional fluidity become a given, where players are no longer specialists but become human Swiss Army Knives?
"Versatility down the years has taught me there are obviously pros and cons for it for players. It can work against you as much as it can work for you," former Wales and British & Irish Lions centre Jamie Roberts told ESPN. "There's something to be said about honing your craft in a certain position, aiming to be the best in the world in that position, maximizing your potential and mastering your craft."
That's not to say Roberts doesn't feel that there's a place and time for a team to adjust plans to suit their strengths or unpick opportunities. Last year, Ben Earl started for England in Cardiff at No.8 and finished at inside centre.
"Within games, I think there's huge scope for it," Roberts says. "Henry Pollock is great in the air, catching the ball above his head. Put him on the end of the cross-field kicks in the last few minutes of a game where the opposition gets tired, they're a bit stretched, making poor decisions. And with Ben Earl, one of his greatest strengths is as a ball carrier, putting him up against a smaller outside half. I'd encourage that, especially at first phase. So how you get these players into the game, I think it's really smart. But you know there's also something to be said about mastering your craft."
Gustard feels there are two positions where becoming a true hybrid is tough.
"The trickiest ones are hooker and scrum-half," he says. "Those players like Fourie are rare."
But you are likely to see more players transitioning between forwards and backs. So Pollock is the latest but he's not the first nor the last to dance between the two sides of a team.
Such players are manna from heaven when it comes to the constraints of 33-player squads at World Cups and as teams look for any competitive edge, versatility is king.
As Gustard says: "These 'hybrid players' are a great opportunity for us coaches to find any advantage on the field."