Stick with Undercurry and Billy says Moody

FORMER England captain Lewis Moody believes Eddie Jones should stick with his tried and tested back row trio despite being blessed with an embarrassment of riches in the loose forwards.

- ADAM ELLIS

Three years out from the World Cup in France, the man who led England at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand believes the combination of Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Billy Vunipola are yet to reach their optimum as a unit.

England’s opening match of the World Cup in Japan against Tonga was the first time Jones had named all three in a match – and he stuck with them throughout the tournament.

Injury ruled Vunipola out of the Six Nations, with Curry switching to No.8 and Courtney Lawes coming in on the blindside,

But despite the recent advances of Ben Earl, Sam Simmonds, Jack Willis, Alex Dombrandt and Ted Hill in the Premiership, Moody is eager to see more of Eddie’s chosen three from Japan.

“I was so excited prior to the World Cup to have Underhill, Curry and Vunipola starting and getting as much time as possible together,” Moody told The Rugby Paper.

“Now, they haven’t played together for a while but for me those three are still the formidable back row for England. I still think we haven’t seen enough of them together yet and what we have seen so far has just been awesome, Curry and Underhill in particular.