Normally, when a talented young player is brought into an international team, they are the focus of all attention.

Fans want to know if they are the future star that they will be cheering for in the years to come and coaches want to know if they are physically and technically ready to perform at the highest level. They are usually compared to the veteran players in their position and either labelled as an immediate saviour or, at the least, a future starter who will have learnt a lot from the experience.

For highly-touted 20-year-old flanker Sam Underhill, you would think that’s exactly the scenario he would have faced when he made his England debut against Argentina in Santa Fe this past weekend.

That’s not quite the whole story, though. Just a week prior to Underhill’s debut, Tom Curry, a player one year, ten months and 24 days his junior, was also making his England bow against Argentina.

Curry, then still just an 18-year-old, was one of the scene stealers in San Juan and had already began to prompt conversations about whether he could push the likes of Chris Robshaw and James Haskell for their places in the England squad, as well as pencilling his name in at the top of the list of their possible successors.

So, instead of Underhill just facing the usual questions of whether he is ready for Test rugby and how does he stack up against the senior England internationals, he is now being compared, contrasted and analysed with a fellow young prodigy, both of whom are hungry to make their mark with England.

It would have been easy to see that performance from Curry in San Juan and let the pressure get to him, but Underhill responded in fine form, putting in a 60-minute shift in Santa Fe that highlighted why he is a perfect fit for Eddie Jones’ defence-first England side. A prime example of this was the power and technique that he brought with his tackling.

(Photo 1)

Here, Underhill is the first defender out from the ruck and is set to meet the on-rushing Pablo Matera, who is taking the ball, with momentum, from scrum-half Martín Landajo.

(Photo 2)

Underhill has a great body angle, gets underneath Matera, who is a very powerful carrier in his own right, and manages to drive the Argentine flanker up and off his feet.

(Photo 3)

He drives Matera back a good two or three metres, creating a new gain-line deeper in Argentine territory and allowing the English defensive line to step up and act more aggressively in the next phase.

(photo 4)

By the time Landajo takes the ball from the ruck, Underhill is already up from the tackle and, once again, the first man in the defensive line.

(photo 5)

Again, Underhill gets himself underneath the Argentine carrier and drives upwards, erasing any momentum the scrum-half had coming into the collision. The way Underhill sets his feet going into the tackle makes it a very one-sided impact between the flanker and the scrum-half.

(photo 6)

Underhill drives Landajo back, just as he did with Matera a few seconds before and the third gain-line is now a good five metres behind the original. In just two phases and roughly ten seconds, Underhill has taken all momentum out of the Argentine attack. It wasn’t just his power which was impressive, but, as hinted in that last sequence, also his work rate and technique in the tackle. The following sequence occurred in the 59th minute of the game.

(photo 7)

Underhill drops back from the defensive line slightly, trusting his instincts and ability to time his run, meaning that he can cross the offside line at speed, just as Landajo plays the ball. He has already lined up big second rower Tomás Lavanini.

(photo 8)

Underhill goes low and wraps Lavanini’s leg in a vice-like grip, toppling the lock. It’s fortuitous for England that Underhill was so efficient in the tackle, as Harry Williams, who arrives second on the scene, could have been penalised for no arms in the tackle. As it was, Lavanini was already falling to ground before Williams arrived.

(photo 9)

Fast-forward to the next phase and Underhill is again at the centre of the action. Once more, he goes low, wrapping Agustín Creevy’s legs and bringing him down. In the time it has taken Underhill to clear the first ruck, get onside, join the defensive line and tackle Creevy, Lavanini hasn’t even begun to get to his feet from the previous carry.

It wasn’t just in the tackle that Underhill made a defensive impact, either. His work at the breakdown, an area that has been a favourite grumble for English rugby fans over the last 10 or so years, was also very impressive.

(photo 10)

Danny Care puts the box-kick up here, with Marland Yarde the primary chaser and both Underhill and Robshaw supporting on the chase.

(photo 11)

Yarde is successful making the first-up tackle, with Underhill and Robshaw both hot on his heels.

(photo 12)

Having had to navigate through a few Argentine bodies, Underhill is having to come into the contact area at a slight angle, whilst Robshaw is able to run in straight and unimpeded.

(photo 13)

Instead of trying, possibly fruitlessly, to steal the ball himself, Underhill recognises Robshaw has priority and the favourable angle, so he reaches over and binds onto his back row partner.

(photo 14)

Although Emiliano Boffelli comes in with a good clear-out, it is not enough to immediately shift the amalgamation of “UnderShaw” and with the bolstering of Underhill, Robshaw is able to get his hands on the ball and force a penalty out of Argentina for not releasing.

George Ford duly put the penalty kick through the posts and levelled the scores for England at a time when they needed a momentum boost. Even when the possibility of stealing the ball wasn’t on, Underhill was still able to make important plays for his side.

(photo 15)

With Joe Launchbury having collected an Argentine kick into the England 22, he pops a pass to Underhill and the flanker proceeds to puncture the Pumas’ defensive line and take the ball out of the 22.

(photo 16)

The ball is taken on by another carrier in a second phase, with Underhill positioning himself to the right of the ruck. Care gets ready for another box-kick, with Jonny May as the primary chaser and Underhill ready to support the chase.

(photo 17)

In an impressive showing of athleticism, Underhill actually keeps pace with May and is right on his shoulder to support him, should he need it, when he makes the tackle on the Argentine player.

(Photo 18)

A good contest by the Argentine rucker prevents Underhill from being able to fully steal the ball, but the Englishman’s body position and strength lets him get his hands on the ball, albeit briefly, to spoil any kind of quick ball that Landajo had hoped to supply.

(photo 19)

By keeping the ball in the ruck for four or five seconds, he allowed the English defensive line to arrive on the scene and organise themselves, essentially buying 30m in the territorial battle from where Care made his box-kick, or, accounting for where Launchbury took the ball from the original Argentine kick, roughly 45m are gained in total. It is work rate and impact plays on the defensive side of the ball like this that often get overlooked in the stats at the end of the game.

Underhill’s 12 tackles in Santa Fe led both teams, but is hardly an eye-popping number given the focus on statistics in the modern game. A tweet stating “Underhill led the tackle stats at Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez with 12” is barely going to cause a ripple on social media, but it’s the nature of those tackles made and the game situation that they occurred in, that is the impressive factor.

Jones has made no secret about the importance of defence in the England team, with several high-profile and skilled attacking players missing out on selection as a result, and it is fundamentally-sound and physical defence like that shown by Underhill on Saturday which is the key to Eddie’s heart. The rest gets worked on in the England camp and is fostered and cultivated from a foundation of strong defence and set-piece play.

The question now is whether Underhill can force his way into the England XV when Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes and Haskell all return from Lions duty, not to mention see off the challenge of the blossoming Curry twins. He may only have the one cap to his name, but it already looks like he is ticking the boxes that Jones looks for in a flanker.

Most importantly, he is physical, just like Robshaw and Haskell, with a work rate that can see him make significant impacts at attacking and defensive breakdowns, with his carrying and tackling, as well as the energy to chase for at least 60 minutes (when he was subbed off in Santa Fe) at Test match intensity.

The Curry twins are both phenomenal prospects and tick these boxes, too, but having only just turned 19, their time may yet be after the next Rugby World Cup. Their tussles with Underhill, Will Evans and Zach Mercer are something to look forward to, but with the added senior experience he has, it feels as though Underhill has a slight Test priority over the other four members of this talented quintet.

This leaves Underhill with two aces up his sleeve in his competition with the England incumbents going into the 2017/18 season. The first is that he is a fleeter flanker than Haskell, something England have arguably lacked since the days of Neil Back and Lewis Moody, and the second is that he will begin his pre-season preparations three-to-four weeks earlier than Haskell (or Itoje or Lawes if Jones is considering either for a role on the flank).

With Haskell set to be involved with the Lions for the best part of the next month, his off-season will be postponed, something that could help Underhill make a flying start to the season and steal a march on the 75-cap veteran.

Of course, this is predicated upon Underhill featuring heavily for Bath, something that is far from guaranteed with the likes of Taulupe Faletau, Francois Louw and Mercer prowling around the Rec, but with Faletau also likely to have a delayed start to the season due to Lions duty and Louw potentially in the frame for the Springboks, Underhill’s prospects look good.

Jones is notorious for his man management and unique ways of motivating players, so it would not be surprising to see Jones play it coy with the versatile flanker next season, but there was an assuredness about his performance that far belied his young age and given all the build-up he was given last season, he surely can’t have failed to impress Jones with his display in Santa Fe.

The Australian was quoted after England secured their 2-0 series win saying that his greatest challenge was now “fitting 61 players into his 45-man EPS” and cracking that 45 will become the next international goal for Underhill moving forward.

The prototype for flankers in the modern game is changing and Underhill encapsulates that, bringing all the physicality, grunt and work rate of the traditional blindside, and combines it with the predatory instincts of an old school openside.

We will have to wait and see if he features when England are back to full-strength in November, but at the very least, we can start to do away with the “out and out seven” nonsense. The new breed of back-rowers have to do everything and honestly, they do it pretty well.

The future is here, it doesn’t conform to back-row stereotypes and if you ask me, it’s here to stay.

by Alex Shaw