«UNDERHILL FACING FLAK FROM ENEMIES WITHIN

GIVEN some of the deeply misguided military metaphors which some of his colleagues have used this week, Sam Underhill seems to have a refreshing sense of perspective when it comes to the oldest rivalry in Test match rugby.

The England flanker knows this game is a big deal. Of course it is. To suggest otherwise would be to diminish the history and memories woven into the rich tapestry of the Calcutta Cup.

Underhill may have stopped short of tossing another verbal hand grenade into the Scotland camp to follow that of his team-mate Lewis Ludlam, but nor does he have any desire to dilute matters.

His last visit to Edinburgh two years ago served as quite the eye-opener. On what was just his sixth cap, he came off the bench as Finn Russell and Huw Jones inspired the Scots to a thrilling 25-13 victory.

But the result wasn’t the half of it. Off the pitch, Underhill was taking all sorts of pelters — and that was just from his own grandmother.

With a nod to family roots in the heartland of Scottish rugby, Underhill needs no one to tell him just how important these particular bragging rights are for everyone involved.

‘I’ve got a Scottish grandmother,’ he tells Sportsmail. ‘I also have a Scottish brother-in-law and one of my other sister’s boyfriends is Scottish, so I just turn my phone off before the game.

‘My grandmother doesn’t watch rugby, fortunately. I think she probably sends my dad a narky message — she’s his mother-in-law, so that adds a little bit to it as well.

‘She’s from the Borders. I’ll catch up with her in the week probably, depending on how the result goes this weekend.

‘It’s a pretty big occasion. Every Test is a big occasion, but there’s a big rivalry there. It’s good to have a bit of an edge to a game.

‘With sports in general, and rugby definitely, a few people have probably thought it’s gone away from those rivalries and what underlies them, but having that edge is definitely a good thing for the game.

‘Certainly for the fans. Anything that’s good for the game is to be welcomed. It brings a competitive edge and a pressure.

‘It’s going to be there anyway, so it’s either one of those things you embrace and acknowledge or ignore — and I think it’s much better to embrace it than try to pretend it’s not there.

‘I didn’t play in the game at Twickenham last year, but I played here in the last game at Murrayfield. I was on the bench. It was one of my first caps and first experience here at Murrayfield.

‘It was probably my first insight into the emotion of the occasion and I was probably a bit naive to it before.

‘We were getting booed off the bus and seeing the reaction of the Scotland players when they won, seeing the crowd and how much it means to everyone up here.

‘It’s something to acknowledge and it’s definitely there — you can’t ignore it, especially when it’s as loud as Murrayfield is.

‘But that’s to be embraced. It’s something that you want to play in and be in that position. You want to be under the most pressure you can be because that means you’re playing at the highest level you can.’

Underhill has come a long way since that defeat in 2018. By common consent, he was the best player on the pitch in

England’s World Cup semi-final victory over the All Blacks.

A master of all he surveys, he has established himself as a key cog in Eddie Jones’ back row. But the 23-year-old Bath flanker speaks with a conviction and honesty that leaves no doubt as to the pressure England are feeling.

The heat is on after their tame defeat in Paris last weekend. There is also the not-so-small fact that Scotland are bidding to retain the Calcutta Cup for a third successive year.

It is a feat which the Scots have not managed since 1970-72 — and Underhill is adamant that it would be foolish to write them off simply because Russell isn’t playing.

The star fly-half masterminded Scotland’s remarkable comeback at Twickenham last year, along with the victory in 2018, but Underhill gave a glowing endorsement of Russell’s replacement.

Asked how much of a blow Russell’s absence is to Scotland’s chances, he said: ‘That depends if you don’t think Adam Hastings is any good. I think he’s a pretty good player. He looks pretty sharp.

‘I don’t think they’ll have lost anything in terms of attacking flair. They’re still pretty dangerous. I think that would be a disservice to Adam to say they’re missing anything.

‘We’re incredibly hungry to win back the Calcutta Cup. With last week especially, as a player when you have a disappointing result, there’s nothing more that you want than another game.

‘The fact that it just happens to be a Calcutta Cup is probably even better for us because there’s more pressure. Ultimately, pressure is something you need to perform at your best.

‘You need to put yourself under pressure and for other people to put you under pressure.

‘Last week was a good lesson for us. It was a very good performance from the French. That is important to acknowledge.

‘But, for us, the pressure is on, which is something you can ignore and try to play down, or it’s something you can embrace. We’ve got to embrace it because it’s what creates good performances.’

England’s two best performances over the past year came against

Ireland in Dublin 12 months ago and in their humbling of the All Blacks in the World Cup, two games in which they were clear underdogs.

Keen to play down the tag of favourites this afternoon, Underhill added: ‘I would say that’s a disservice to Scotland. As a player, you don’t think about that sort of stuff.

‘I know in the media you write about favourites and underdogs and that kind of stuff, but I think as professional rugby players you know that every team is capable of beating any other team.

‘Nothing is ever done for you. I think certainly the English media is guilty of doing that. I don’t think we ever think that anything is done before we’re there.

‘Scotland are a very good attacking side and they play with an awful lot of width. When they get outside you, they are hard to defend against.

‘They have serious ball-carriers, serious attacking threats — about as good a ball-carrying back row as you could have. A pretty dangerous back three and centre-field partnership to match.

‘I’d say they bring a serious threat. That’s something we want to embrace.’