by Recovery from ankle surgery hampered Underhill’s early season, limiting him to a single start and two further cameos for Bath. But against Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop he was sharp and impressive and several others, such as Henry Slade and George Martin, were selected despite continued sackings.
Another possible factor is England’s desire to do more jackalling. This may have made it difficult to maintain a starting combination of Chandler Cunningham-South with Underhill and Earl in the back row, with the referees apparently not appreciating the latter’s technique in the tackle area. More than once, Earl was penalized for not supporting his body weight at key moments in friendlies.
Regardless of his progress, Underhill probably isn’t quite as natural a scavenger as Tom or especially Ben Curry. In addition to offering intuitive link play and specialized scrum-based skills, Alex Dombrandt is also a skilled jackaller.
In his first press briefing as Steve Borthwick’s new defense coach earlier this month, Joe El-Abd said there were ways England could improve. That was pretty impressive considering they only conceded 40 points in two games in New Zealand. But the All Blacks were nicer and more disruptive on the field, performing on the right side of refereeing decisions.
“The back row is important [defensive] System; how they come off the line, how they attack, how they slow the ball down, how disciplined they are,” El-Abd said three weeks ago.
We’ve seen enough to suggest that Tom Curry will be catapulted into the England squad once he’s healthy enough. His presence on the summer tour, after a domestic season that lasted just 34 minutes for the Sale Sharks, underlined this. Ben has been reliably excellent in the Premier League for half a decade. Can he translate this influence into friendlies? He is definitely a player with real confidence.
