England’s defensive rock was forged in Wales and makes no secret of how much he enjoys the physical side of rugby
It is a decent quiz question. Which player involved in Saturday’s Wales v England game was man of the match on his Ospreys starting debut against Munster in 2015? The answer is Sam Underhill, the England flanker who played Welsh regional rugby as a student at Cardiff University before recrossing the Severn Bridge to claim a place in Eddie Jones’s back row.
Five years on and, in many ways, Underhill perfectly sums up this developing English team: seriously committed, world class without the ball yet not entirely what people may casually assume. This week, for example, while his teammates battle away on PlayStation, the 24-year-old is reading a book about the importance of breathing. “It’s kind of like meditation, but without the gap year,” he says, smiling. “Actually it’s probably more biology than spiritual. I find that easier to get into.”
Written by Robert Kitson
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/nov/27/sam-underhill-theres-no-way-of-defending-that-is-not-physical under the title “
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