A year ago Eddie Jones said he expected to be naming Sam Underhill in the England squad within six months. Politics ruled that out, with the flanker playing outside the country for Ospreys and available for selection only in exceptional circumstances, but on Saturday the national side’s defence coach, Paul Gustard, a wing forward in his playing days, will be at the Principality Stadium to watch him play against Cardiff Blues on Judgement Day in the Welsh capital.

Underhill, 20, a student at Cardiff University, is being watched as Jones and his coaches finalise their squad for the June tour to Argentina. An exceptional circumstance could have been argued for the openside before he announced in January that he would be joining Bath in the summer given England’s lack of a specialist No7 for a number of years, but Underhill was injured at the start of the season and Jones, when announcing his Six Nations squad, said the forward had not done enough to merit selection and would be considered for the summer.

“The Argentina tour is something I aspire to and I think I am eligible,” said Underhill, who spent a year in Gloucester’s academy, making two appearances off the bench for the senior team, the first as a 17-year old in the LV Cup and the second in the Premiership at Bath.

“If it happens, it happens. If not, I will be in pre-season working hard like everyone else to get better. It is a reward, not a right for anyone. Eddie has not been in contact much but I chat to Richard Hill [the England team manager] a fair bit, mainly on performance-based stuff.”

Underhill left Gloucester to move to Cardiff to read economics having deferred his university offer after leaving school. “It was not the best year for me,” he said. “I had a few injuries and was loaned out to a National One side. I did not want to wait for another year to go to university. I was a bit impatient but I suppose it has paid off. I wanted to get the balance right between studying and playing rugby and think I have done that.

“My advice to anyone who has to choose between rugby and education is that, if you get an opportunity in the sport, you can sort out university around it because you have loads of time to study. I am glad I came to Wales, an awesome place to play rugby. The set-up has been slightly different from England and it has been a steep learning curve, but I will long be grateful for my time here.”

Underhill still had another full season on his contract with Ospreys when he signed for Bath. The reported £150,000 transfer fee he commanded reflected the reputation he had forged in fewer than 30 matches for the region and he knew he had to leave Wales to fulfil his international ambitions, although under the current regulations he would have qualified to play for Wales next year.

“It was a difficult decision to leave Ospreys but I am English so it is about returning to my home country, not just the prospect of international rugby,” said Underhill, who was born in the United States but brought up in Gloucester. “If I was from Swansea, staying at Ospreys would have been the easiest decision in the world but I am not. That’s what I have gone with and like the move to Cardiff it might pay off or it might not.

“Bath have a great back-row mix and experience in the team and I am looking forward to getting involved in the set-up. You get better as a player by playing against the best and training with the best. Ospreys are a classic example with the things you pick up from guys like Justin Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones. I want to leave Ospreys on a high and after a few setbacks in recent weeks we need to beat the Blues. Judgement Day [when the four Welsh regions are in action] is an awesome experience, one of the highlights of the season for players in front of a big crowd.”

Underhill has made an impact in Wales, playing in the Welsh Premiership for Bridgend before being quickly spotted. When Ospreys provided opposition for Wales in training, the burly centre Jamie Roberts found himself propelled backwards and dumped on the ground when he charged at the flanker who has been described by his head coach at the region, Steve Tandy, as being destined for greatness.

He is a strong, confident character who, like the Wales captain, Wyn Jones, will treat poor questions in interviews with the disdain Viv Richards would show to a long hop. “If I was born in Hong Kong, it would not make me Chinese, just as being born in the United States did not make me an American,” he replied, when asked whether he agreed with the proposal to increase the qualification period for international rugby from three to five years. “If you live in a place and it becomes your adopted country, why not play for them?”