Davis: Bath will bring out the best in Sam
OSPREYS defence coach Brad Davis reckons Bath are the perfect club for burgeoning back rower Sam Underhill to press his claims for an England place.
Highly rated Underhill has signed a three-year deal with the West Country outfit, who bought out the final year of his Ospreys contract for a reported £150,000.
Underhill joins Bath in June and Davis, who coached at the Rec for seven years between 2006 and 2013, sees no reason why the 20-year-old cannot immediately be fasttracked into England’s squad for the forthcoming tour of Argentina. Davis told The Rugby
Paper: “Sam underlined that he wanted to play for England so a move to the Premiership was always on the cards. It’s a good move for Sam and his international aspirations and it’s a pretty good situation for Ospreys as well.
“We’ll get the best out of him over the rest of the season and he will leave us knowing he’s given 100 per cent to the Ospreys during his time with us.”
Davis added: “One of Sam’s main drivers is to be at the forefront of Eddie Jones’ mind and I don’t think there’s a better club he can go to than Bath.
“The environment there is superb and he’ll be challenged by the back rowers they’ve already got to become better, just as he is here at the Ospreys.
“I don’t know Eddie’s thinking but if Sam’s playing well for us and Eddie’s watching, which I’m sure he will be, he’ll be a contender for that Argentina tour.”
An openside by trade, Underhill’s route to the Ospreys No.7 jersey is currently being blocked by the outstanding Justin Tipuric, who before this weekend had completed an astonishing 160 tackles without missing one.
Davis believes Tipuric must be a certainty for the Lions this summer, saying: “Justin’s an incredible player. Technically and tactically he’s got all the attributes and he’s a very intelligent player who makes good decisions.
“There are different aspects to being a No.7 – you’re great on the ground and love to link play – but he’s such a great defender and is a very instinctive player with ball in hand.
“I’d go as far as saying he’s one of the best No.7s in the world right now and he’s put himself in a great position for the Lions.”
While the Lions captaincy looks to be a race between Alun-Wyn Jones, Rory Best and Dylan Hartley, Davis views it as an open and shut case.
Davis, who joined PRO12 leaders Ospreys from Wasps last summer, said: “In terms of leadership, the two men in my coaching career that have really stood out are Steve Borthwick at Bath and Alun-Wyn Jones here at the Ospreys.
“Alun-Wyn is an unbelievable leader of our team, not just in terms of the dayto-day stuff on the training field but also in the way he backs it up by delivering high quality performances week-in, week-out.
“He’s an amazing man whose leadership qualities are second to none and Warren Gatland won’t go far wrong in making him Lions captain.
“He’s likely to be Wales’ skipper during the Six Nations and he’s done it before with the Lions in 2013 so he’s a prime candidate to lead the tour to New Zealand.”