Argentina confirm full extent of Juan Cruz Mallia injury following ‘reckless’ Tom Curry tackle
Juan Cruz Mallia and an inset of Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi.
Argentina have confirmed full-back Juan Cruz Mallia has suffered a torn ACL, following their 27-23 defeat to England on Sunday.
Mallia was carried off the pitch by Los Pumas medical staff late in the second-half, following a late tackle from England back-rower Tom Curry while attempting a kick.
At the time of writing, there is no confirmed timescale for a potential return, which will leave club side Toulouse sweating ahead of their Top 14 title defence, as well as their hunt for the Investec Champions Cup trophy.
Los Pumas confirm extent of Juan Cruz Mallia injury
🚨 Parte médico lesión Juan Cruz Mallía.
¡Te deseamos una pronta recuperación, Juanchi! 🫶 pic.twitter.com/WMG4zBl9fV
— Los Pumas (@lospumas) November 24, 2025
Full confirmation of his injury follows an initial suggestion from Los Pumas head coach Felipe Contepomi that Mallia was looking at an ACL.
“We don’t know, but clinically it looks like an ACL,” Contepomi told reporters after the full-time whistle. “We need to check.
“I don’t want to give you a diagnosis, but he’s limping and sore and he couldn’t finish the game.”
England legend claims Tom Curry ‘knows what he’s doing’ as Felipe Contepomi backlash rumbles on
The tackle, which happened in the waning moments of the gripping Test match on Sunday with Argentina in the midst of a strong fightback, did not go down well with Los Pumas boss Contepomi, either, describing it as ‘reckless’ in his post-match press conference.
“Two weeks ago, we had a decision that it was deemed because of the consequence, so if that’s the criteria, I can’t understand that we must then play the rest of the game with 14 players after a ‘slightly late’ tackle like you described, I’d call it reckless – I’m not English speaking but I’d call it reckless,” he said.
“We ended up playing with 14, we ended up playing with 15, and it wasn’t even checked.”
It also saw tensions boil over on the pitch, with the players seen in a scuffle at the full-time whistle while there was also an alleged coming together between Curry and Contepomi in the tunnel afterwards, prompting the Argentina boss to call the back-rower a ‘bully’.
Los Pumas have lodged a formal complaint over the alleged tunnel incident, while reports from the PA News Agency suggest England have already been asked to provide their full account of proceedings after the match.
