The ‘brutal moment’ that made Stuart Barnes ‘fall in love with rugby all over again’

Lawrence Nolan
Sam Underhill Bath

Sam Underhill was in the wars during last Saturday's Bath win at Edinburgh

Retired England out-half Stuart Barnes has claimed that Sam Underhill’s “brutal hit” last Saturday on Ali Price in Edinburgh has made him fall in love with rugby all over again.

The Champions Cup semi-finals in Dublin and Bordeaux were the past weekend’s headline rugby fixtures in Europe, but Bath’s Challenge Cup win in Scotland didn’t escape the attention of Barnes, who used his Monday column in The Times to wax lyrical about the moment the England flanker mowed down the Scotland scrum-half on the Murrayfield back pitch.

Bath eventually won 39-24 to book their place in the May 23 final in Cardiff versus Lyon, but Barnes’ attention was drawn to the early second-half incident just minutes before Edinburgh were awarded the penalty try that gave them a short-lived 17-12 lead.

Underhill went on to be named player of the match, and Barnes hailed the impact he made when clattering into the ball-kicking Price shortly after the interval. “For the most uplifting incident of all on Saturday, we must return to the lesser Challenge Cup game and the 41st minute of the match,” he began.

“Sam Underhill had already levelled Edinburgh’s scrum-half, Ali Price, with a horrifying shot to the ribs in the first half. As Price produced an almost perfect kick from his own 22, the Bath open side smashed the scrum half on the left side of his ribs, all his formidable power legitimately channelled through his shoulders.

“There were no histrionics, no play-acting…”

“Price didn’t see just what a wonderful kick he had manufactured as he rolled around in understandable agony. The TV director produced a replay to remind us that rugby is brutish at its best. Or perhaps he was on the hunt for a late tackle and a controversial card.

“Anyway, Price was trying to make sure one part of his body hadn’t been dislodged from the other when the hit man himself, Underhill, arrived on the scene to check that his target was all right. The Bath man extended his hand in legitimate concern and respect, the scrum-half accepted it and rose ruefully to his feet, tenderly trotting towards the Bath 22 for a lineout.

“There were no histrionics, no play-acting. There weren’t half a dozen players surrounding the referee demanding a red card or something worse. There was no incitement to and from the terrace.

“There was nothing but huge admiration for the legitimate brutality of the Bath flanker and — from me, who was wincing from another country – even more respect for Price. Good God, he shook his head and smiled as he hobbled to his feet. Rugby union at its very best.

“As games go, you will not see much better than the thriller in Dublin, with the most brutal of endings for Leinster, possession turned over inches from the Northampton try line.

“As for events in Edinburgh, there was Bath’s bullish, strategic decision to play it tight up front, and then there was that hit from Underhill on Price. A brutal moment which made me fall in love with rugby all over again.”

READ MORE: ‘Sea of red’ fails to materialise as fans snub British and Irish Lions squad announcement event

Bath Ali Price Sam Underhill Stuart Barnes

Related Articles