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England are backing Sam Underhill to deliver on Saturday night in Paris and demonstrate that he should have been picked on the 2021 Lions tour by Warren Gatland. The openside was the starter at No7 throughout the three-game Autumn Nations Series that culminated in London with a win over the Springboks three months after the Lions – minus the non-selected Underhill – fell to a two-one series defeat.
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Underhill has since had his issues with concussion, covid, illness and being part of a Bath side struggling at the bottom of the Gallagher Premiership, but Jones also reckoned that getting snubbed by Gatland for the Lions had a deep impact on the back-rower now backed to be at his best when England look to ruin France’s Grand Slam party.
“I have got no doubt,” said Jones when asked if Underhill is set to shine in his first Test outing since November. “He has been through a little bit of a difficult period. Missing out on the Lions probably stung him a fair bit and probably more than he has felt.
“We all know when we have missed out on something we want we feel like we have put it away and parked it and sometimes it stays with us and then you get one or two other things to happen and there is a bit of woe me about it.
“He has probably gone through that period and those periods are the sort where the really good players rebound, they learn from it and come back better players. From what I have seen in Sam, there is just that sparkle in his eye, a want to be the best player he can be and we will see that Saturday.”
Jones admitted he couldn’t believe his luck that Underhill has got his fitness right at the very moment that Tom Curry became unavailable through injury, allowing England to pick a like-for-like replacement to face France in Curry’s absence. “Having lost Tom Curry the timing of having Sam Underhill available and fit and ready to go is uncanny. We have been really blessed in that area. Sam at his best is one of the best openside flankers in the world.
“His ability to chop tackle, his ability to get his head over the ball, his ability to be a powerful ball carrier is second to none and he has come back into camp after what has been an extremely difficult period for him. I don’t think we should discount he has been through a long concussion rehab, he had illness, he had the injury, he has been playing in a club team that has been struggling which is difficult for your morale as a player
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“When your club is struggling, you’re getting a consistent run of injuries but he has come back in with a spring in his step and his job is to make sure he is the best version of Sam Underhill on Saturday and I’m sure we are going to see that.”
Jones added that the length of the domestic season in England will continue to impact his squad and that the only time he will ever have a full-strength squad at his disposal is the build-up to a World Cup.
“I just think now more so than any time the length of the season in England is daunting and players come in and out and we have just been more aware that the players will probably have these periods where they are going to be out for periods of time and they need that recover. We have got Tom Curry out for probably eight to ten weeks.
“It’s a good chance for him to rebuild his body. He was going on the back of the Lions tour so we have just got to be more accepting that this is going to be more part of the normal going forward and your ability to get your best team on the field is only going to be seen at the World Cup where you get three months to prepare the players properly. Otherwise, you have got to make do with what you have available.”
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