AGAINST SMALL ODDS
Underhill insist the game is tougher than ever and played by giants... but there’s still a place for feisty little players
SAM UNDERHILL believes rugby is tougher than ever and played by giants but that there is still a place in the game for the little man.
The flanker is favourite to replace the concussed Tom Curry when Eddie Jones this morning announces his team for Saturday’s second Test against Australia in Brisbane.
Curry’s knock on the head came 14 minutes into the opening Test in Perth, ending his tour and highlighting rugby’s growing problem with collisions.
World champions South Africa are the benchmark team for big players but Underhill insists there is still room in the game for those of smaller stature.
“It’s definitely a more physical game than it’s ever been but the laws around tackle height and stuff are having a good effect on the game,” he said.
“It’s getting more physical, especially at Test level, but you notice it in the Premiership.
“There are obviously big athletes that move very well and at Test level you don’t have a lot of time to react, the collisions are quicker so you have to be faster and on it.
“There’s an advantage to being a bigger player, but a smaller player might be fitter or quicker or more agile. For me, that’s the good thing about rugby - there’s space for everyone, every build.
“You have Courtney Lawes at 6ft whatever and Harry Randall. They’re both excellent players and they both contribute to the team in ways that other people can’t.”
Curry flew home yesterday and the other half of the Kamikaze Kids has every sympathy with his back-row pal’s situation.
Underhill suffered two concussions in December and did not get back into the England set-up until the final game of the Six Nations.
The 25-year-old added: “I had one pre-Christmas, then I came back just after Christmas and redid it. The first was against Gloucester and the second against Leinster.
“I’m gutted for Tom because he’s been phenomenal. At Test level he’s a machine and I’m gutted for him that it’s over for him early, but it’s essential to get that recovery right.
“I have been there with concussion and it’s not something to mess about with.
“There’s no grey area, you’re either OK or you’re not, and if you’re not OK you’re looked after.
“Mine was mid-season, his is at the end of the season and you have an off season and a pre-season. Hopefully it doesn’t impact his rugby much but it’s never a good thing.”