‘He just stayed in and carried on running’ – star ignores England coach’s orders

England flanker Tom Curry has been doing over and above his required work as he looks to impress on his return to Rugby World Cup action against Samoa on October 7.

Curry, who played less than three minutes of the game against Argentina before he was sent off, has subsequently been suspended for their following two matches.

That absence must have further frustrated the openside flanker as he was also missing due to injury during England‘s Six Nations and Rugby World Cup warm-up games.

Told to stop

Steve Borthwick‘s men will finish their pool campaign against the Samoans next weekend and it seems Curry is in determined mood to impress in training ahead of that.

“Tom is a unique player in that I don’t think I’ve ever come across anyone so fit, or so willing to work hard and put himself through pain,” scrum coach Tom Harrison said.

“He just seems to be able to enjoy it and keep going. There was a conditioning session the other day where he finished his reps and Aled Walters (England’s fitness guru) was shouting at him, ‘Get out, get out’. And he just carried on running.

“He just stayed in and carried on running. And when he did finally decide it was time for time for him to get out, he left the drill and Ellis Genge started hammering him for leaving the drill! And you just saw him getting so angry about it!

“He is in phenomenal shape. He has been brilliant. Unfortunately he was suspended, but he was brilliant by not going, ‘Oh I’m suspended for these two games’. Instead he went, ‘How can I help England win?’.

“And the work he was doing to help make training hard and difficult for the guys playing, and also the work he was doing with the back-rows, to add his experience and his knowledge to our team meetings has been exceptional.”

While England are preparing for the clash with the islanders where a victory would seal top spot in Pool D, they also have some down time on their bye week off.

“The players have dispersed around different parts of France to spend a few days with their families,” Harrison continued.

“If you look back at how intense campaigns can be, you’re with each other all the time, all the time, all the time. It becomes quite intense when you’re with the same people all the time.

Mental break

“It’s quite nice to have that mental break to see your loved ones because people say it’s players make sacrifices, but it’s players who make decisions. The loved ones make sacrifices.”

He added: “I’m relaxing by watching scrums, that’s what I do! I’ll be doing a little bit of training.

“I saw the sights of Le Touquet on Sunday night, which was fantastic.

“I probably had one too many ciders! I found the one bar that served cider over here and enjoyed myself!

“I had 24 hours with my wife and son, which was fantastic. They went back on Sunday. It’s back to it for me so it was brilliant to see them.”

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