England address defence woes and Tom Curry’s availability for World Cup opener
Caleb Muntz breaks through the England defence and an image of Tom Curry.
Tom Curry is set to be thrown straight back into the matchday 23 for England’s Rugby World Cup opener against Argentina.
The back-rower has been recovering from an ankle injury and is ready to start the crucial Pool D clash against Los Pumas.
No doubt over Curry’s readiness
Curry, a regular starter under Eddie Jones, missed all four warm-up matches after spraining the joint during training in early August but is now poised to make his first appearance since the Gallagher Premiership final in May.
His fitness is a major boost for England, who will be without banned Billy Vunipola for their first game of the tournament.
“It’s great to see Tom out there training, he’s been really good. He’s been excellent,” said defence coach Kevin Sinfield, who revealed the squad has a clean bill of health.
When asked if Curry could be recalled immediately, Sinfield replied: “We’ve got no doubt about that.
“He’s got a number of caps under his belt now and he’s been doing it for years. He can play a number of positions across the back row for us too. We’re delighted he’s available.”
England’s poor defence
England have shipped 30 tries in their nine games since Sinfield took charge of the defence as part of Steve Borthwick‘s coaching team.
The defence coach pinpointed the high injury count and the team’s bans as reasons for their vulnerability.
“It really helps to have Tom Curry back available. Some of the suspensions that we’ve had over the last couple of weeks haven’t helped. The back row changes we’ve had to make probably haven’t helped too,” Sinfield said.
“I do see a team here that are improving and getting better. I also understand, and I’m very realistic that we’ve not been good enough so far.
“We are working incredibly hard to be better this week, and I have complete confidence and belief in the group over where we’re going.
“I’ve seen a very slight change in how we’ve gone about our business this week. We needed to have that change and make that adjustment.
“I have to say I’ve really enjoyed my time with the guys. I’ve not been happy with the results, and I’ve not been happy with the tries we’ve conceded, but I understand where we are going.
“We’ve just got to better across the board. I won’t hide or shy away from that. We need to be better across the board in our defence. We missed too many tackles last time out, and that’s something we’ve got to rectify.
“I’m firmly in there with the players. I’m accountable, I’m responsible.”
READ MORE:Ā āEngland still donāt know what side they want to playā ā Chris RobshawĀ
