Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Sam ready to tackle All Blacks
SAM UNDERHILL broke the hearts of one New Zealander on his last Twickenham appearance – now he has the whole nation in his sights.
His epic tackle on Scott Williams was given “miracle” status after it condemned to defeat Gatland’s Wales in February.
Nine months on, injury to Tom Curry is set to give the Bath openside his opportunity to thwart the world champion All Blacks.
“It’s not always about scoring,” said England co-captain Dylan Hartley, recalling how Williams was in the act of scoring when Underhill appeared from nowhere to flip him into touch.”
Owen Farrell hailed the hit as “unbelievable”, Sir Clive Woodward reckoned it was a one-in-100 tackle.
Which is roughly the chance most give England of knocking over New Zealand at HQ on Saturday.
Eddie Jones names his team today and Underhill, who scrum coach Neal Hatley sees as a like-for-like replacement for Curry, is itching to get back to where he made his name.
The 22-year-old said: “The Wales game was a huge day, one of my favourites.
“Growing up you want to play rugby for England at Twickenham and you want to be winning there.”
To trouble the All Blacks, Jones’ team will need to be aggressive in attack as well as defence and Maro Itoje has been tasked with leading the charge.
Hartley said: “With Maro, from the age of 20 or 21, the bar has been set unbelievably high – by himself more than anyone, because he wants to be the best in the world.”