Sam Underhill was just like any other student, living in £12-a-night halls and preparing for a lecture when he received a text from Eddie Jones.

‘Meet me at the Hilton Hotel, Cardiff,’ was the surprise instruction. The teenager had caught Jones’s eye with his blockbuster performances for Ospreys and — out of nowhere — was touted as England’s heir apparent at No 7.

‘It was quite surreal,’ said Underhill. ‘Eddie just told me to turn up. I thought he’d be in a hidden room somewhere but we sat down in the hotel cafe and had a coffee.

Ospreys youngster Sam Underhill admits receiving a call from Eddie Jones was 'surreal'

‘It was February last year and he just wanted to get the measure of me. He wanted to be kept in the loop about my future, but we mainly talked rugby.’

Jones took a three-hour train journey to Wales to solve the curious case of the cross-border star: how had England’s brightest talent ended up at Bridgend Ravens?

Underhill, now 20, had captained England Under 18s but slipped through the net at Gloucester, before enrolling on a three-year course at Cardiff University.

‘I thought it was smarter to go to uni,’ said Underhill. ‘We’ve done microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics and built up a trading portfolio. I passed first year — just about — but never expected to play for the Ospreys 16 times. I was leaving halls for training when the boys were coming in from a night out!’

Underhill enrolled at Cardiff University and watched England games in the student bar

In his first year, Underhill watched England versus Wales from The Taf student bar, where a pint of beer costs £1.20. If things go to plan, he will be running out against them at Twickenham next year where a pint costs £5.50.

The USA-born flanker, whose RAF father was deployed to Ohio, has had to wait for his chance. To ensure his eligibility for England, he has negotiated an early contract release to join Bath this summer.

Sportsmail understands Saracens also made an offer but requested an immediate release which was turned down, so Underhill is now set to make his debut against Argentina in June.

SUPER STAT 13 - Different players have formed part of Eddie Jones’ back-row. Only Chris Robshaw and Billy Vunipola have featured in more than 10 of Jones’ 15 matches. Even Elliot Daly played at No 8 for three minutes in Sydney! Advertisement

‘If the Argentina tour happens, it happens,’ said Underhill. ‘If it doesn’t I’ll look forward to pre-season with Bath.’ Underhill could qualify for Wales if he sees out his Ospreys contract, but his heart has always been in England.

‘Jonny Wilkinson was my hero growing up, like every other kid in England,’ he said. ‘When we went into the England Under 17 camps we were always told to look at the way he trained.

‘My sisters are my other role models. They’ve all done really well — one’s a doctor, one works for a property company in London and the other works for JP Morgan in New York. I’m proud of them. I aspire to be like them.

‘Moving to Bath wasn’t purely about staking a claim for an England shirt. It’s a chance to play alongside guys like Toby Faletau and Francois Louw.

‘There’s a lot of talent and experience here at Ospreys, too. Tips (Justin Tipuric) is world class. He’s one of the best sevens in the world at the moment.

The 20-year-old's commanding performances for Ospreys made the rugby world take notice

‘I’m not trying to copy him but it’s just looking at the level of detail that goes into their game.’

Underhill caught Jones’s eye in one of his earliest performances against Leinster. The 6ft 1in and 16st 3lb rookie outmuscled Lions flanker Sean O’Brien — showing the breakdown dynamism England have missed in recent years.

He is a balance of brute and brains. Courteous and clean cut, jokingly requesting that his ‘vocab is embellished’ with the ‘uhms and ahs’ removed.

It is not only rugby clubs that Underhill is swapping, he will also transfer his studies to Bath University.

‘I studied maths at school and saw economics as a way of applying that socially,’ he said. ‘It gives you a different way of looking at things like the American election, which was worrying. Most conversations in rugby don’t feature politics. Alun-Wyn Jones has a law degree so I could chat with him — I wouldn’t want to disagree with him though!’