Pooper versus the Kamikaze Kids in the Battle of the Breakdown. It sounds like something more suited to WrestleMania than the World Cup but make no mistake how decisive it will be in determining whether England or Australia advance to the semi-finals on Saturday.
In the white corner there are Tom Curry and Sam Underhill. Thick as thieves off the field and forming a burgeoning partnership as England’s flankers on it. Despite starting three matches together, having 28 caps between them and a combined age of 44 they are rapidly establishing a fearsome reputation.
In the gold corner are David Pocock and Michael Hooper, the past masters with 180 caps between them and the two players who combined to such devastating effect to dump England out of their own World Cup four years ago. Suffice to say Saturday’s referee, Jérôme Garcès, has his work cut out with four openside flankers on the field.
“You want to challenge yourself against the best in the world and it’s fair to say they’re two world-class openside,” says Underhill.
“They’re players who, Tom and I, when we were growing up and coming through, looked at and aspired to be like, so it’s a bit surreal to be coming up against them now.
“Technically, they are both very good over the ball. Pocock is probably the best in the world in terms of how strong he is and his body position. On top of that they have good timing. I think timing is probably the most important of the two. You don’t want to give them space, the only space they can take is space that you give them. If you take that away you will have an easier contest, if you don’t you will have a more difficult contest.”
Eddie Jones has always been vague as to precisely when the idea of playing Curry at No 6 and Underhill at No 7 came to mind but flanker perhaps represents the most marked shift in his selection policy since taking over. On the 2016 summer tour of Australia he picked Chris Robshaw and James Haskell, two “six-and-a-halves”. They combined to impressive effect but with Jones viewing the breakdown becoming more contestable recently, so Curry and Underhill have emerged as his go-to pairing.
“In the game now, everyone is expected to do everything,” says Underhill. “The traditional roles when you have a specialist seven or blindside or eight … people have still got their strengths in certain areas but you have to be able to do everything. Even as a seven you’re expected to be carrying, good at set-piece, good in defence and at the breakdown. That’s probably why you see more sides picking two sevens because sevens can now do more, just as your sixes and eights can do.”
Curry, meanwhile, is relishing the chance to lock horns with Pocock and Hooper for the first time. England have developed a knack of scoring early tries in big matches of late but the 21‑year‑old believes an early big hit on his opposite number is just as important.
“That’s something you try to aim for every week,” he says. “We spoke about what Hooper and Pocock did at the World Cup, the amount of turnovers. It has been reduced since then, especially when England play Australia.
“It will be no different this weekend. You go out every week first and foremost for the team, and to beat your opposite man.”
