Sam Underhill reveals teammate England addressed after horror loss

Sam Underhill insists England must block out the outside noise as they look to regroup in time for the the next assignment of a Guinness Six Nations that has unravelled after only three rounds.

Ireland’s record 42-21 victory at Allianz Stadium that followed an equally emphatic defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield has removed Steve Borthwick’s team from title contention just a fortnight after they set out to seize France’s crown.

An inept performance has been universally criticised and Underhill insists England must stay united ahead of their clash with a vastly improved Italy on March 7, a fixture ripe for a Stadio Olimpico shock.

“There’s probably a million things you can point to after a game – and especially after a loss,” the Bath flanker said.

“When you’re winning, everything’s good. After a loss, you have a million people saying a million different things. The hard thing is to stay together and to stay focused.

“We’ll review it and it’s probably too early to say what will come out of that. As players our job is to continue to get better as individuals and as a collective. We have to trust each other and the coaches. That’s the whole point of team sport.”

England were outplayed on every front through a mixture of their myriad failings and Ireland’s ability to feast on their weaknesses.

The 12-Test winning run that had raised expectations of clinching the Six Nations, with even head coach Steve Borthwick plotting a title decider in France on March 14, now becomes a desperate quest to avoid finishing in the bottom half of the table.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the result,” Underhill said. “We can acknowledge that, but also acknowledge that it’s a part of progress sometimes. Progress isn’t linear and how we respond is important.

“This is a phenomenally competitive tournament and the game is always evolving, teams are always evolving. Any team you play is never the same again: stylistically, individually.

“Our job is to keep improving as much as we can. Even off the back of a win, you come away with a dozen things you can improve. It’s no different after a loss.

“You’re never as bad as people think you are and never as good as people think you are. We weren’t the best team in the world four weeks ago and we’re not the worst team now.

“We’ll stick at it. Stay close as a group. I hope there are good things ahead for this team.”

The nation’s joint fourth biggest defeat at Twickenham was a rotten way for Maro Itoje, one of the greats of English rugby, to mark his 100th cap.

“We addressed it as a team that we couldn’t give him the day we wanted,” Underhill said.

“He’s an incredibly gracious human being. He mentioned it himself – that’s sport, progress isn’t linear. Those were his words.

“We can still celebrate what an achievement 100 caps is. He’s a phenomenal player, athlete, human being and leader.”