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England backrow Tom Curry was on the receiving end of one of the bloodiest facial injuries seen in International rugby union for some years.
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Curry was forced to leave the field on a blood replacement after a head contact split open his forehead early in the secondhalf.
A injury this bloody hadn’t been seen in international rugby match since Irish wing Dennis Hickie split his head open in the mid-noughties.
The Sale backrow was patched up and returned to the pitch a few minutes later with a heavy bandage and presumably several stitches.
Sale Sharks headcoach Steve Diamond told RugbyPass this week that: “Tom is the man for England. He has all the physical attributes; is big, strong, has a low centre of gravity and he understands the link play.
“He was that involved in the game with Ireland that people will have overlooked his statistics. It was only two days later when they came out that the reaction was ‘Crickey, how much work does this kid do?’.”
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“The great thing about Tom is he is a very level headed kid who understands the game really well and age is no barrier. Tom is a machine and will be annoyed about the yellow card and was probably a little bit rash.
“He is better than that and didn’t need to do it and no doubt Eddie Jones and John Mitchell will have spoken to him about that tackle. However it is good to see because it wasn’t a high tackle – it was a bit late and the game hasn’t changed and in the first 10-20 minutes you want to upset the opposition and he comes from that type of player who wants to make his presence felt early doors.”
Diamond added: “Without doing Tom a disservice, there is another one in the family called Ben and I have no doubt he can follow Tom into test rugby and it is tough for him at the moment because his twin is getting all the headlines. Ben goes confidently and quietly about his business, remembering that he is still only 20. Eighteen months ago Ben was picked, got injured and hasn’t had a look in since and we feel for him. However, neither of them whinge or moan and just get on with things.
“We will be getting a lot more out of both of them when the mature physically over the next two or three years. By 23-years-old, Tom could have 30 or 40 caps under his belt and the beauty of this that even though there are other good back row players about, it doesn’t deter them and they just get out there and do their stuff. They are not worried about opponents in their position in the squad.”
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