Pocock has a heart of gold
The Wallabies star is an ardent promoter on gay rights and climate change, when he is not working in rugby as one of the world's finest loose forwards.
Indeed the 27-year-old – whose immediate professional concern is bringing hosts England to their knees in the World Cup on Saturday – risked jail this year after being arrested at a climate protest.
Pocock is determined not to be one of those rugby players who falls apart after their careers are over because they have nothing to do but relate battles past.
"I've always said that I don't want rugby to define me and I've got a fair bit going on outside rugby," the Zimbabwean-born player told the Daily Mail in an interview.
Pocock, who is perhaps wise to look down the line as he has suffered two serious knee injuries, said his outlook has been defined by seeing his family give up their farm because of violence against farmers when white-owned land was seized.
"Yeah I would have been 12 or 13 when it started," he said.
"It was certainly scary. The way that it happened was incredibly politically-motivated and the violence spiralled out of control.
"My family would never have considered leaving Zimbabwe and it was only when that violence started and we knew a few people who had been killed, we thought it was time to move."
Pocock, who along with Scottish loose forward David Denton and American wing Takudzwa Ngwenya illustrate the rugby talent that Zimbabwe have lost, says he escaped the worst.
"The white farmers got a lot of press all over the world but the reality is that the farm workers probably copped it the hardest, in terms of being beaten, losing their jobs and being forced out," he said.
Pocock has not forgotten his roots as he has established a foundation in Zimbabwe trying to revive local economies in the decimated farming communities.
In Australia, the seemingly tireless Pocock has turned his attention to the issues of gay marriage and climate change.
He announced he would not marry his girlfriend Emma – with whom he lives in Canberra which usefully for his lobbying is home to the federal government – until gay marriage is officialised in Australia.
Emma concurs with his stance which he made an issue when he forced the referee to halt a Super Rugby game between his side Brumbies and the Waratahs when he overheard homophobic abuse.
"There has been a huge societal shift in terms of marriage equality and the push towards that and also challenging homophobia," said Pocock.
"The ARU (Australia Rugby Union) came up with an inclusion policy which was a first in Australian sport and one I really supported.
"If you look at some of the statistics around young people involved in our sport who are gay and feel uncomfortable about it a huge percentage of them don't play sport for fear of being discriminated against.
"To me sport should break down those boundaries."
Pocock, who was arrested last November for chaining himself to a digger at a coal mine in the Leard State Forest in New South Wales, holds up Wales rugby legend Gareth Thomas, who came out in 2009 to reveal he was gay, as setting an example to those who fear admitting it openly.
"In rugby, someone like Gareth Thomas has really challenged the perception of what it means to be a rugby player where you're heterosexual, tough and nothing bothers you.
"Then you see someone like him who talks about what he went through.
"To me it shouldn't be up to those players to make that sort of brave decision, we should be creating an environment where that's not a big thing, to be honest with their team-mates and say, 'this is who I am'."
AFP
