Tom Curry being put together like ‘Humpty Dumpty’ after ‘chronic’ injury revealed

Tom Curry’s club boss, Alex Sanderson, has revealed why the England flanker has not been involved in his side since the Rugby World Cup.

The back-rower received a red card in the opening match of the global tournament but returned to feature in their final pool encounter against Samoa.

Curry then started against Fiji and South Africa in the knockout stages, but walked off very gingerly when replaced in the semi-final.

Although the openside was named in the England XV for the bronze medal match with Argentina, he was once again substituted in that clash.

Returning to Sale

The 25-year-old has not featured for Sale Sharks since getting back to the club and Sanderson insists that they are not rushing his return due to an ongoing hip issue.

“This is not tragic, this is not career-ending by any stretch, but it is another speed bump in what has been a really bumpy road for him this year,” he said.

“He has got to get over that but let’s look at this injury in isolation and not feel like you are tainted with bad luck because that is what it could feel like for him, and then he can get down and all that stuff.

“His luck will turn. We will put Humpty Dumpty back together again, you will see him soon enough, hopefully by Christmas, and then we will take the long-term effect of this as and when we find them.”

Sale do not know the full extent of Curry’s problem but they will understand a bit more once they get the results back from the specialist.

“I’m waiting on a specialist assessment on his hip. He has got a dicky hip, that’s the medical term for it,” Sanderson said. “He came in (from the World Cup) and was alright but as soon as we trained with any intensity he stiffened up.

“It took us a while to free him up again and these are some chronic micro-tears in his labrum.

“We have to wait and see until this specialist tells us exactly what he has done and how he has done it and what kind of rehabilitation and treatment he needs.

“It could be as little as a couple of weeks to rehab it because it has shown up well this week; it could be a lot longer depending on how much wear and tear there might be on his bone.”

Relentless Curry

Sanderson felt that Curry having some sort of physical issue during his career was inevitable given the effort he puts into his rugby.

The flanker also started young, making both his club and international debuts at the age of 18.

He has earned 50 caps for England by the age of 25 and Sale’s director of rugby says that it is vital they manage his condition properly.

“I don’t think anyone who trains and plays like he does is ever going to avoid some kind of Achilles heel, that’s about the best way you can put it and I mean that in the metaphorical sense,” he added.

“It’s human. He is super-human. Something is going to give at some point and he has to manage it. How you manage it, and every club player goes through an injury crisis, will determine the longevity of his career moving forward, so that is the key and we have spoken about that.”

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