Sam Underhill's crocodile roll verdict: 'I don't think the game would be any poorer if they got rid of it'
Fit-again England poacher Sam Underhill believes that rugby wouldn’t suffer as a spectacle if the controversial but legal crocodile roll was taken out of the game and made illegal. The breakdown manoeuvre came in for much scrutiny last month when Jack Willis was seriously injured against Italy in the Guinness Six Nations.
Willis was called up to the England squad for the championship in January when the originally selected Underhill pulled up with a hip injury just before the squad was about to start preparations.
A few weeks later, Willis was left in agony on the Twickenham turf and facing up to a year out of the sport following damage to multiple parts of his knee when he was crocodile rolled away from a breakdown by Italy’s Sebastian Negri.
That resulted in much debate about that type of tackle and Underhill, who has returned to action in recent weeks with Bath in the Gallagher Premiership, has now given his take on a manoeuvre that has caused serious injuries at times to the rolled away player.
“It’s difficult because there is an awful lot of times where it is used and it is okay and no one gets hurt and it’s fine but from my point of view, I don’t think the game would be any poorer if they got rid of it.
The flanker is documenting his long road to recovery following his latest serious injury… we can only wish him well on that challenging journey?#SixNations
https://t.co/LCLMvKtSOO— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 5, 2021
“The only reason you would roll someone is if you can’t get underneath them and the only reason you wouldn’t be able to get underneath someone is if you are late or if you are too high, so from my perspective it doesn’t need to happen.
“If you have got good technique at the breakdown, if you are coming in low, if you are coming in square and more importantly you are not giving a poacher time to get in, you alleviate the contest. Like, you can see examples, especially in Test rugby with good aggressive work at the breakdown, teams are in early and they are in low and they are clearing past bodies, that is also pretty safe.
“Obviously you are getting hit but there is less lateral force and it is less messy. Yeah, I don’t think the game would be any poorer if you got rid of them [crocodile rolls]. If anything it would encourage better breakdown technique.”
It was May 2019 when England forward Underhill described the breakdown as one of the last grey areas of the game, telling RugbyPass: “If you’re trying to get over the ball and have two blokes who are over 100 kilos flying into you off their feet, it can be pretty difficult to survive that.”
Nearly two years later, the back row suggests that the breakdown has become a slightly safer player for poachers such as himself. The 24-year-old, who has 22 England caps, said: “In theory, yeah. At the moment refs are rewarding people when there is clear and obvious pictures.
“There is clear and obvious pictures when there is isolation, you are less likely to get steamrolled by guys coming to clean you out. The fact that those decisions are being made sooner is probably protecting people.
“Also referees – and I have been done a couple of times this season for being too long and being off my feet which is something that jacklers have historically been guilty of – if you have got a guy competing for the ball off his feet, there is only one way that a cleaner is going to get him out.
“It becomes quite a low, quite a dangerous uncontrolled contest so I do think the way refs are reffing it now you have got a big emphasis on having your chest up and clearly being on your feet which also make it easier to clear you out, but it does make it safer.”
The flanker is documenting his long road to recovery following his latest serious injury… we can only wish him well on that challenging journey?#SixNations
https://t.co/LCLMvKtSOO— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 5, 2021
Explaining the subtle difference further, Underhill added: “It’s interpreted slightly differently the last two seasons. Referees are rewarding better pictures more. It has become more about choosing your opportunities.
“Can you get someone isolated, can you show the referee good pictures, can you be clearly on your feet clearly lifting the ball? From that perspective there is probably fewer but more obvious opportunities at the breakdown and that comes off the back of defensive work.
“An awful of good breakdown stuff comes off the back of your defensive work so if you have got a good aggressive defence, if you are getting off the line well, if your tackle selection is good and that is key, then those things open up but you can’t force that to happen.
“I don’t think you can chase things. When you do that does more damage than good for a defence. If you are constantly jumping into breakdowns and shortening up your (defensive) line that also is detrimental. It always has been about good decisions but increasingly so now with the way the refs are interpreting it.”
Watching England on from the outside in recent months having become a regular starter for Eddie Jones in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup, Underhill said: “If you are not there, there will be things spoken about that they will be trying to do that I won’t be aware of. As someone watching from the outside you won’t know what is going on inside.
“I don’t think there is any insights I have gleaned from it. To be honest, I have been enjoying getting back playing (with Bath). It’s part of the game being injured and having to watch things. It’s frustrating as a player to not be fit… but there is probably no brilliant (England) insights I can give you.”
Instead, Underhill is focused on Bath and their hope of igniting a run of stellar form similar to last season’s post-lockdown restart which took them all the way to the playoffs. They are currently in ninth place, eight points shy of fourth-place Sale.
“It’s possible,” he said. “The good thing whether it happens or not it’s up to us because if we are as good as we can be then it is not out of reach. But we will have to put our best foot forward. That is the old adage – everyone is trying to do what they are capable of doing. We have got a group that can do it but we’ll see.”
'If all clean-outs are illegal by the letter of the law then you can’t differentiate between the bad ones and the okay ones'
– @SGUnderhill gives @heagneyl on insight into the dangers of life as a No7 fetcher at the breakdown in the @premrugby with… https://t.co/pUxDknyWKh
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 5, 2019
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments