If Handre Pollard, South Africa's fresh-faced fly-half, had to pick someone on whom fashion his rugby future, it probably would not be Stephen Donald. Not only was the former All Blacks playmaker capped just 23 times in a career that failed to live up to expectation, but he was continually criticised, and even blamed for his team's 2010 defeat in the Bledisloe Cup. Yet Donald was the man to whom Pollard referred when asked about the enormous South African expectation resting on him come the Rugby World Cup.

"I don't see it that way," Pollard tells ESPN. "First, I have to ensure I get selected, which is entirely in my own hands. There will be 31 [Springboks] players going to the World Cup and history has shown that even more players will be needed if we're going to be successful. In my own position, the All Blacks were forced to use their fourth-choice fly-half in 2011."

Forgive Pollard's modesty; he is but a young and, as many have described him, humble man all but assured of a place in the Springboks' starting XV. His only competition comes from Morne Steyn and, perhaps, Elton Jantjies; but the former is still trying to find his way back into favour and form, and the latter is unlikely to be part of the eventual touring party, so it will probably come down to Pollard. That knowledge must be both exhilarating and intimidating, but, luckily, Pollard is used to both.

Handre Pollard is strong in contact © Getty Images

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At just 21, he has already played in three age-group world championships, winning one; been the subject of a turf war between two different domestic unions; and made his senior international debut and a massive impact on the international stage. But he is trying to play that down. "I have to pinch myself sometimes," he says. "I've been unbelievably blessed in my rugby career in the last few years and I'm very grateful for what I've achieved. But there is still a lot of very hard work ahead for me, and I have so much to learn."

Handre Pollard is a strong ball runner © Getty Images

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The last part of that sentence concerns former Springboks coach Nick Mallet, who has expressed concern that Pollard may not have learned enough by the time the World Cup comes around. Pollard missed four out of seven kicks against the World XV at a wet and slippery Newlands - conditions similar to those expected at the World Cup - and Mallet asked the question most have been avoiding: is Pollard going to be good enough when it matters most?

"Going into a World Cup, you would want your fly-half to have a 75% goal-kicking success rate," Mallet said in his post-match television analysis for SuperSport. "He had some difficult goal kicks but you would want him to kick better than that, There were also two charge-down kicks, which could be very costly in a World Cup."

But Heyneke Meyer will likely put his trust in Pollard anyway, something he has done since the youngster first caught his eye as a schoolboy.

Pollard was on Meyer's radar as he made his way through the provincial age-group teams, following in and eventually stepping out of his father's footsteps. Pollard's father, Andre, captained the Paarl Gimnasium first XV in 1978 and was hailed as one of the reasons the state-school became one of the top sporting establishments in South Africa.

Handre became the school's and later the Baby Boks' Jonny Wilkinson, and his four penalties and a drop goal in the 2012 Junior World Cup final confirmed him as a protégé. But then it got messy. It was revealed after the tournament that Western Province had offered a Pollard a contract two years before, but he had not signed it because he was weighing up his options for future study. The following year, Western Province heard the Bulls were interested in Pollard and contacted Andre to clarify, but Pollard senior maintained that his son was undecided.

Handre Pollard was named World Junior Player of the Year in 2014 © Getty Images

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By the time 2012 came around, Western Province were starting to wonder if their player had been poached. The South African Rugby Union regulations stipulated that no union could offer a schoolboy a deal without consulting his home union, unless the agreement had been reached before he left school. It emerged that must have been what happened, and Pollard had signed for the Bulls much to the ire of Western Province, who believed they had put the resources into developing him.

If the tug-of-war affected Pollard's psyche, it only made him stronger. He played in two more junior world championships and immediately made his first full international appearance off the back of that. In a matter of months, Pollard became the Springboks' first-choice. He was hailed for his passing game, his willingness to get involved in tackles, and his strength as a team man, which comes through even when he is talking. "I cherish every moment in the Bok squad with experienced players. In the end, rugby is a team sport and I won't be anywhere without my team-mates."

Soon he will be somewhere without them, having signed a three-month deal with Japanese Top League club NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes. That will take him straight from the international season to Japan and then back home for the 2016 Super Rugby campaign, and could put him at risk of burnout. For now, he is not thinking that far ahead.

"It's going to be a massive challenge, but one thing I've learnt in my short time playing senior professional rugby is that you never ever look further ahead than the next game," he said. "If I'm fortunate enough to go to the World Cup and we achieve our goals there, I will start focusing on Japan and a new adventure in the Far East. I know it will be a special few months over there, but my main ambitions are to improve on a weekly basis and to play many more games for the Bulls and the Boks."

The "if" should not be part of Pollard's thinking; it's more a case of "when", unless he is wondering if he will be the man who kicks the winning points at the World Cup.

Handre Pollard is one of the rising stars in world rugby © Getty Images

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