Flanker Sam Underhill, who is set to replace Tom Curry in England’s latest series, believes the battle of the breakdown will be crucial in leveling the series. Wallabies openside Michael Hooper was the dominant figure in the home side’s 30-28 win in the first Test, dominating the contest on the ground, including a game-changing turnover. Underhill insists dominating the breakdown will be key to ending England’s four-game losing streak. “We controlled areas of the game pretty well for a decent chunk of the game, but ultimately penalties and discipline cost us,” Underhill said. “Whether the analysis was more competitive than we thought it would be or not, we didn’t adjust to the interpretation in the analysis. “You can’t have offense without a functional offensive collapse and vice versa – you can’t defend indefinitely, so collapse is a very good area to target if you want to stifle an attack. “It’s always a huge area of contention, especially in Test rugby with the southern hemisphere sides and especially Australia going at it really hard. If you get it right everything else becomes easier. “Hooper is obviously a big damage threat. You can’t mark him but as a team you know very well that if he’s close to the breakdown he’s very likely to struggle. You have to move him early because he’s good on the ball.” Curry was ruled out of the tour after suffering concussion in the first Test, his third head injury in the past six months. Underhill has been sidelined for more than two months after suffering concussions on the other side of Christmas. His empathy for his fellow “Kamikaze Kid” is mixed with concern at the growing scale of conflict. “At Test level, Tom is a machine and I’m saddened that his tour has ended early,” Underhill said. “Rugby is a more physical game than ever before. There are big players who move very well and at Test level you don’t have a lot of time to react. The collisions are quicker.”
