Sam Underhill: Bath agree deal for Ospreys open-side flanker

English open-side flanker Sam Underhill will join Bath from Ospreys at the start of 2017-18 on a three-year deal.

The 20-year-old former England Under-18 player will remain with the Welsh region until the end of the season.

His career began at Gloucester before a 2015 switch to the Ospreys, where he has played 24 times either side of suffering a shoulder injury in August.

He was not available to England head coach Eddie Jones in 2016, by nature of being based outside of England.

However, his move to Bath means he will become available for England this summer and he is heavily tipped to make the tour to Argentina in June.

Underhill moved to Wales to study economics at Cardiff University and could have qualified for Wales in the future under the three-year residency rule, had he stayed long enough.

Back row Sam Underhill (left) was born in Ohio, United States, but brought up in Gloucester

Analysis

Former Wales captain Emyr Lewis, speaking to BBC Radio Wales

"It is a blow, not just for Ospreys but for Wales because I am sure if he had stayed another year then he would have been eligible to play for Wales as well.

"He is a good player. He is one of those that is going to develop into an international player but he has decided he is going to go across the border."