England star ‘chomping at the bit’ to return to action at Rugby World Cup

England back-row star Tom Curry has been tearing into his team-mates at training as he prepares to make his comeback when the Red Rose finish their Rugby World Cup group campaign against Samoa in Lille on Saturday.

The 25-year-old has been in action for just 179 seconds at the global showpiece after being sent off for a dangerous tackle in England’s tournament opener against Argentina, resulting in a two-match suspension which ruled him out of their games against Japan and Chile.

It was a frustrating first appearance for Curry under England head coach Steve Borthwick as he missed his country’s Six Nations campaign and last month’s World Cup warm-up fixtures due to hamstring and ankle injuries.

Set to start upon England return

Now the high-energy Sale Sharks flanker is set to return to action via the starting line-up against Samoa with a quarter-final against likely opponents Fiji looming on the horizon.

England attack coach Richard Wigglesworth revealed that Curry is excited to resume his World Cup campaign having made his presence felt during training sessions.

“Tom’s been a menace in training because he’s so good, which means he’s everywhere!” Wigglesworth said.

“He’s incredibly committed and diligent. As you’d expect from the really, really top player that he is, he shows all those traits.

“He’s chomping at the bit and we’re delighted for him that he’s back and raring to go. He won’t hold much back – he’s all action.

“He’s fit as a fiddle and that’s the way he plays – multiple actions in games where he affects the game on both sides of the ball.

“I think we will get the best of Tom Curry in terms of him getting straight into it from the start.

“We’re absolutely delighted to get him back. It was tough for him to come back from that (red card) but he has reacted really well and got stuck into his training.”

England skipper Owen Farrell is adamant that the super-fit Curry, who was a World Rugby Player of the Year nominee in 2019, is ready to leave his stamp on the World Cup.

“Tom’s in a good place. I don’t think there is too much revving up that Tom can do – he is pretty much 100 per cent every time you are out there training,” England’s captain said.

“I’m sure he has got a bit of frustration at not being involved and I’m sure he can’t wait to show what he can do and get out there with the team.”

England reached the quarter-finals when Japan beat Samoa last Thursday and the Red Rose will advance to the last-eight as pool winners with a match to spare, taking full advantage of being positioned in the easier half of the draw.

When they arrived in France, expectation outside their squad was at an all-time low amid fears they would fail to emerge from the group, after they lost lost five out of their previous six Tests.

Turnaround in fortunes

But they sealed solid wins over Argentina, Japan and Chile and there is great belief that they can advance deeper into the World Cup.

“So far the team has done well. It is not a massive pat on the back to ourselves because we have still hopefully got a long way to go in this competition. All we are trying to do is focus on what we are doing now,” said Farrell.

“With regards to people writing us off on the outside, that has not been the case in the camp.

“We believe in what we are doing and we have done even when things weren’t going quite as we would have wanted them to.”

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