ALL DEBTS ARE OFF

Underhill owes his career to Welsh domestic game but will show no mercy today amid the turmoil

- BY ADAM HATHAWAY

SAM UNDERHILL is aiming to bite the hand that once fed him as England open their Six Nations campaign against Wales this afternoon.

The flanker first came to prominence as a teenager at the Ospreys, when he was studying at Cardiff University, after being handed his first professional deal by current Wales head coach Steve Tandy in 2015.

That club, which Underhill left for Bath two years later, is on the brink of extinction as Welsh rugby continues to press the self-destruct button.

But Underhill, who had a stint at Gloucester's academy prior to joining the Ospreys, insists he would not be where he is now, about to win his 46th England cap, without that time in Wales under Tandy.

"I owe a lot to that club, I owe a lot to the Ospreys and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there," said Underhill, 29. "I was a young player given an opportunity by Steve Tandy.