Underhill must get 'smarter' - Neil Back

Former England openside Neil Back believes England’s backrow play needs to improve if England are to beat the best sides in the world.

What’s more, Back believes that the heir apparent to England’s openside – Sam Underhill – needs to be ‘smarter’ in the contact zone to develop his game.

“England’s game has developed since 2015. Yes, Eddie was picking the ‘6.5’ type players, but that’s the way the game was being played in the Premiership,” Back told RugbyPass.

“Since the World Cup, there has been a drive to develop an attacking philosophy. It was clear that Southern Hemisphere had the edge in that area at the World Cup. Their domestic game translates better into the international scene.

“You have to remember that it’s not the England coach’s job to tell Premiership teams how to play rugby.”

A World Cup winner in 2003, the 49-year-old believes England’s backrowers need to rediscover the somewhat lost art of link play and try to create for players around them, as opposed to soley carrying or making big defensive hits.

Back – an openside specialist – believes Sam Underhill is a case in point.

“Of course he’s got to concentrate on the perfecting his tackle technique but he has to get smarter too. You see him looking to make big hits, but that can take you off your feet.

“If you’re off your feet you’re out of the game. Intelligence in the tackle area is vital – getting over the ball quickly. You need to stay in motion and stay in the game.

“Billy Vunipola carries really well but you also see him putting other players into space, and getting the ball out of contact. If you look at the Southern Hemisphere in terms of speed of ball at contact, one out three times it’s fast-ball. In the Northern Hemisphere it’s probably about one in five.”

Back believes England’s link play needs to improve further to beat elite sides.

“The forwards need to get more comfortable with ball-in-hand. Our front five are good carriers, but the best defences can stop them.”

Back played the bulk of his career at around 92kg, a modest amount by modern standards where backrows under 100kg are scarce. He believes that while “height, weight and how much you can lift in the gym” are important metrics, they are not the be all and end all.

“I played between 88kg at my lightest and 95kg. Even when I was 95kg of lean body mass, I felt I was too heavy. My fighting weight was about 92-93kg.

“It’s about maximising the physical potential of an individual,” says Back. “No coach ever told me I was too small. My point of difference was that I was pound-for-pound one of the most powerful players in my position and I was a consistent performer.

“If that meant me getting over the ball, clearing a ruck, getting an offload away or putting a bigger player into space to make a carry, that’s what I did.

“If you’re good enough, you’re big enough. I worked my hind legs off and I never left thinking ‘What if?’.”

Back’s career spanned eight years as an amateur player and nine years as a professional, and is well placed to see how the game has gone. Asked whether if he started playing rugby now would he have become an international backrow, his answer comes without hesitation.

“100 per cent I’d be playing for England. I’ll always back myself.”

Join World Cup 2003 heroes Neil Back, Will Greenwood and Mike Tindall at the all-new Wolf Run obstacle race in East Sussex on 28th April. Get your pack together with the buy four get one free offer – www.thewolfrun.com