Underhill ready for Wales test after living behind enemy lines
Studying in Cardiff and playing for Ospreys gave insight into strength of rivalry, writes Ben Coles
Not many of the England side who face Wales this weekend will have experienced the intensity of the rivalry while living over the border. Sam Underhill’s stint at Cardiff University studying economics and playing for the Ospreys gave him a taste of how much any victory over England means to those in Wales. Well, it sort of did. The Taf, Cardiff ’s student union pub, is not exactly a Valleys stronghold.
“To be fair it was full of Cardiff students from Surrey, so it wasn’t really the same atmosphere as I’m sure it was in Neath or St Helen’s. There’s definitely a special sense of occasion,” Underhill says.
“I’m not Welsh. You get a sense of it, but I’ll never be able to know what it really means for them because I’m English. You definitely sense there’s a – call it what you want – an edge, an added emotion, a sense of occasion. There’s always more to it. But as a player there’s probably less of that. In the era of professional sport you can’t let things like that distract you too much. You’ve got to be consistent and inward looking.
“From living over there I’ve seen how much it means to them as a nation. You get pretty impressive support, particularly for this game. As a player it’s always one to look forward to. It’s the game you want to play in. I don’t think the game has gone sterile, but I suppose there’s a bit more emotion in a game like this.”
The last time Underhill watched an England-wales fixture in the Taf was in 2016. Four years later and he is one of the world’s best flankers. That spell at the Ospreys allowed Underhill to work up close with Justin Tipuric, Wales’s perennially underrated openside, who signed a
new three-year contract with the region this week.
Underhill has competed against the world’s best back rows at Test level, including Pieter-steph du Toit and Ardie Savea in the World Cup in Japan. Yet in his opinion, no back row comes close to Tipuric’s skill levels – high praise for the openside who spent so long in Sam Warburton’s shadow with Wales.
“I learnt a lot from him. He’s a phenomenal player. He’s definitely the most skilful back row I’ve played with or against,” Underhill says. “Definitely a very gifted player. Those are the guys you want to play against.
“I was obviously a young openside, and he was first choice. You always learn from senior players as you come through and I was lucky enough to play with him for a bit. He’s the most down-toearth guy in the world. I don’t think he’d want that sort of recognition [as being my mentor] but he’s a guy I learnt a lot from.”
The Bath flanker is still young, turning 24 in the summer, and would be the last person to believe that he is the finished product. His tackle count against Ireland was outstanding – leading the team with 21 – fulfilling one of the objectives he set himself before the Six Nations: to produce more defensively.
“Personally, from the start of the campaign, I felt defensively I could improve and contribute to the team more, and also in terms of our attacking breakdown,” Underhill says. “I have worked pretty hard on those over the last few weeks. It is a constant process, going back and checking what you want to work on for the week and how you can improve. You are talking pretty fine margins at this stage, but that’s kind of the general process. Everyone’s slightly different.”
Underhill will now look to continue that upward curve when Wales come to Twickenham on Saturday, as England attempt to match their high levels across the board against Ireland.
“We were obviously disappointed with the France performance, but I don’t think we were any better or worse as a team. The performance was just worse, if that makes sense. Against Ireland we showed with our performance what we are capable of more.”