Ex-England captains Chris Robshaw and Lawrence Dallaglio have each tipped Sam Underhill as the reply to Steve Borthwick’s No 7 conundrum.

The two males who between them performed 151 instances within the England again row anticipate head coach Borthwick to select a giant No 6 for the Six Nations opener in opposition to Ireland in Dublin in three weeks’ time, with Leicester Tigers’ Ollie Chessum the likeliest selection if match.

And that phrase “if fit” is among the worries for the best England line-up, as Borthwick goals to reverse the drift of seven losses in 12 Tests in 2024.

Underhill and Tom Curry have been extensively hailed as world class whereas carrying the No 7 jersey for England, however each have struggled to place a long term of matches collectively lately, as a consequence of concussion and different accidents – Curry lately wanted stem cell remedy on his hip, and Underhill final weekend re-injured an ankle that had required surgical procedure in the summertime.

All issues being equal, Robshaw and Dallaglio say Underhill’s defensive prowess is paramount within the context of England dealing with an Ireland facet with immense again row assets, shortly adopted by France and Scotland at Twickenham.

Other sturdy candidates on England’s openside flank embrace Curry’s twin brother and Sale Sharks teammate Ben – who has been captaining their membership this season in arguably the most effective type of his life – and Saracens’ Ben Earl, plus longer photographs in Guy Pepper of Bath and Northampton Saints’ Tom Pearson and Henry Pollock.

Borthwick’s deliberations will after all be dictated by England’s sport plan in open play and from the set-pieces of scrum and lineout.

“I think Steve Borthwick will stick with Ben Earl at No 8, and then it is a shootout between Curry and Underhill,” Robshaw tells The i Paper. “It’s a brilliant position for Steve to be in, but also a tough decision.

“Going away to Ireland first, you need to stop them scoring. England at the moment are scoring points, but they conceded 40 to Australia in the autumn and you can’t do that and win games – or you shouldn’t do. Tom Curry gives you a bit more carrying and a bit more in the lineout than Underhill does. But Underhill’s defence is better than anyone in our league. His tackling defence is phenomenal.”

While Tom Curry was battling in opposition to harm through the first half of 2024, Underhill topped the Premiership charts for the yr in dominant tackles – forward of Ben Curry, Richard Capstick of Exeter Chiefs, Pearson and Earl – and he began all eight England Tests within the Six Nations and summer season tour.

Then Curry obtained the nod for the opening autumn matches with New Zealand and Australia in November, earlier than he missed the South Africa loss with concussion.

That gave Underhill a means again in, and in the end he and Curry have been picked along with common No 8 Earl for the simple win over Japan – just for Underhill to limp off after 14 minutes.

The 28-year-old Underhill has 40 caps, whereas Curry has 56 on the age of 26, with each having made their debuts in 2017.

Now Dallaglio tells The i Paper he needs Tom Willis to begin at No 8 in Dublin for what can be solely a second cap for the Saracens man.

“I also see him as a future England captain,” Dallaglio says of Willis. “He’s the best forward in the Premiership by some distance; there is a touch of [former New Zealand skipper and No 8] Kieran Read about him.”

As for the seven position, Dallaglio says: “England need size in the team. I’d pick Tom Willis at eight, Sam Underhill at seven and Ollie Chessum at six. That’s not to say Ben Earl and whoever else is on the bench would not have significant impact on the game. And Ben Curry is right in there, playing exceptionally well, and people forget he was originally picked for England before his brother.”

Robshaw and Dallaglio will probably be pundits for Premier Sports on the Champions Cup this weekend, with Bath, Sale, Leicester, Harlequins, Saracens and Northampton concerned in powerful, pivotal pool matches. Then Borthwick names his England Six Nations squad on Tuesday.

“Going away from home to a hostile environment, getting Chessum back would be a big positive,” Dallaglio says. “It’s been difficult to replace Courtney Lawes, and when England had Billy Vunipola [at No 8] and Underhill and Curry, they were lacking an additional lineout forward.

“Chandler Cunningham-South [of Harlequins] has been given that opportunity, but wasn’t able to quite grasp it – he does big things, but you need to do more than that: you need to do things that affect the outcome of the game.

“When I see people like Ben Curry week to week, Sam Underhill when he gets to play, Tom Willis without a doubt, Ben Earl – they actually do things that affect the outcome of the game, and that’s the most important thing.”

Robshaw thinks this summer season’s tour to Argentina and the USA will probably be Pollock’s time. And Dallaglio clearly sees one thing of himself within the Saint who turns 20 subsequent week: “It’s nice to have a back row forward with a bit of swagger and a bit of chat and a bit of self-belief.”

It’s fantastic to debate with the previous captains how they see the No 7 position, with the times lengthy gone of that participant being a workforce’s solitary jackal menace, or France’s Serge Betsen detailed to chase down England’s fly-half Jonny Wilkinson.

So are there nonetheless any specialisms to the place?

“There are running lines from the back of the lineout you need to learn, though you’ll often see a prop there now,” says Robshaw. “We have seen Earl and Josh Bayliss, or Tom Guest in my day, pop up in the centre or on the wing. But do they really know the running lines? I don’t think so.”

Dallaglio says: “If you are on the open side of the scrum you have got to know what you’re doing, not over-chasing and so on.”

Robshaw was as soon as described by then England coach Eddie Jones as “a six and a half”, however he’s clear in how he measured his contribution as an openside.

“Have an impact,” Robshaw says. “And that is not necessarily a number thing – it’s the ability to work hard off the ball and, for me, always the unseen work. Like, when you don’t have the ball, how hard are you working to get back into position, to help others. On a kick-chase, not just going into a guard position, but working harder to go outside the heavier players.

“Every conflict you’re in, try and be dominant. You won’t dominate every tackle, but fight and make it hard for the carrier to get the ball down, or to get it back. Everyone sees the final result – a turnover or not – but when you’re in the game, you see whether the ball has been slowed down a little bit, and the knock-on effect of that for the rest of the team.”

Lawrence Dallaglio and Chris Robshaw are a part of the Premier Sports workforce bringing UK & Ireland rugby followers each sport dwell within the Champions Cup with 80 dwell matches this season throughout each EPCR tournaments – go to www.premiersports.television to sign-up.