Sam Underhill believes that he’s the go-to guy to resolve England’s rucking shambles ahead of Six Nations showdown with France.
The 21-year-old Bath flanker has been doing all that he can at England’s weekend training camp to persuade Eddie Jones to put him in his starting XV.
“Yes, I do want to start,” said Underhill.
“I was definitely itching to get on [at Murrayfield]. I thought the guys could have done things differently, although I don’t think I could have come on and solved things single-handedly. Scotland obviously got the better of us at the breakdown.
“We were slow to adapt and react to what was happening. We should have been quicker to realise how Nigel [Owens] was refereeing it.
“He was consistent, and you can’t complain because consistency is all you really need from a referee. We should have dealt with it ourselves more quickly: committed more numbers, made the game narrow. I was watching and thinking I could contribute.”
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Underhill, who did get on in the 55th minute, replacing No 8 Nathan Hughes, was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle on prop Jamie Bhatti.
“There was no malicious intent there,” Underhill said. “Looking back on it, it probably looks worse than I thought it did in real time. It’s fair enough. I am not going to argue with the decision that was made.
“For me, it’s just a lesson to make things more obvious. I was targeting the ball, but you need to make that [clear]. You’ve got a responsibility to one another, so I’m not going to complain about the same rules that keep us safe, ultimately, as players.”