Kamikaze Kids are better than Pocock and McCaw, says John Mitchell

England’s flankers are poster boys for brutal, legal tackles and earned comparisons to two greats.

Sam Underhill’s tackle technique is both brutal and perfect Picture: AP

When the story of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan comes to be retold, it will include the legend of the Kamikaze Kids: the England backrow boys who neutralised Australia’s Michael Hooper and David Pocock, chopped down the mighty All Blacks and established themselves as the next generation of superstar open-side flankers.

The England management team are notoriously wary of making headline-grabbing comparisons but John Mitchell, the defence coach, was not shy in describing Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, the flankers with “rocks and boulders” for shoulders, as souped-up versions of Pocock and Richie McCaw, two modern-day greats.

Mitchell coached McCaw for New Zealand and Pocock during his stint with Western Force but he believes that his young England charges are raising the bar. Underhill, 23, is a destructive, dominant tackler; Curry, 21, has developed into a ball-carrier and lineout forward; both are superb over the ball.

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“There’s a lot of McCaw and a lot of Pocock in them – but they are quicker,” said Mitchell, 55. “The game has evolved as well. A few years back, to go from No 7 to No 6 would have been a difficult adjustment but Tom has really developed his set-piece skills, working with one of the best – Steve Borthwick.

“Having played in the backrow and coached a lot of fine backrowers in the world, you get a bit of a feel of who is outstanding and who isn’t. You’ve got to carry, they all enjoy tackling and they all enjoy poaching as well.

“They’ve got to know each other a lot better as well and while they have individual roles to fulfil, they became more aware of working together as a collective, as a combination. That’s the biggest challenge as a backrow because they all come with a narrow way of thinking because they love hunting the ball. They’ve still got so much more growth in them as well and at a young age, they have the ability to be world class.”

Underhill and Curry are poster boys for World Rugby’s drive to lower the height of the tackle. They were nicknamed Kamikaze Kids by Eddie Jones, the head coach, because “they smash everything that moves”.

Their technique is to hit low, on or below the ball, and to use a powerful leg drive to dominate the contact. It is legal and no less brutal because of it.

“It’s about timing,” Mitchell said. “It’s all about controlling the attacker and they’ve got good height as well – they can get lower than most.”

Underhill made 20 tackles in the quarter-final victory over Australia and Curry was named man of the match as the twin opensides eclipsed Hooper and Pocock, who had ravaged England at the breakdown in the 2015 World Cup.

Curry made two try-saving tackles within 13 seconds and in one passage of play he won a turnover in England’s half and raced upfield to smash Reece Hodge as the Wallabies wing ran back the kick. Underhill pounced to win the turnover.

Underhill set the tone in England’s semi-final destruction of New Zealand with shuddering, dominant tackles on Kieran Read and Jordie Barrett; hits that were symbolic of a high-pressure England defence that has won the gainline contest throughout the tournament.

“When they put in a big tackle like that it is quite contagious,” said Billy Vunipola, the No 8 and third member of England’s back row. “It shows everyone it can be done, so everyone else tries to follow in the slipstream of Underhill, Curry, Maro (Itoje).

“It’s easy to sit here and say we want to be brutal but you have to back those words up and those guys are probably the best at leading that area.”

Whether Curry and Underhill can dominate the gainline against the Springboks, who boast huge, powerful men, in the World Cup final is arguably their biggest challenge yet.

Curry is on course to emulate Lawrence Dallaglio from England’s 2003 victory, having played every minute of the tournament.

Faf de Klerk, his Sale Sharks teammate, has been feeding inside information back to the Springboks.

“Tom has been absolutely amazing for England this year and I don’t think he has missed one minute,” the Springboks scrum half said.

“He’s always willing to work hard and always up there with most of the stats. I know him pretty well now and I have some stuff that I can share with the group.”

Knowing what is coming and dealing with it are two different things, as McCaw and Pocock proved. Now is the era of Cunderhill; or Undercurry; or Curryhill.

“Jesus, nip that straight in the bud, that is not happening – they are terrible names,” Curry said. “Horrible.”

The Times