Proudfoot: 'When England toured South Africa we highlighted him as one of the main threats in the team'

England forwards coach Matt Proudfoot has been full of praise for flanker Tom Curry ahead of their final match of the Guinness Six Nations on Saturday against Ireland.

The Sale Sharks man is fresh from a performance against France last Saturday in which he showed a full bag of tricks and typified the energy England played with. He produced some crucial interventions in defence while being seemingly everywhere in attack, making the second most carries and most metres in the pack.

England Rugby shared Proudfoot’s analysis of the 22-year-old on Test Talk: Inside the bubble, in which his respect for the flanker dates back to his time as a member of the South Africa coaching team.

Neil Back talks to The Offload:

Neil Back talks to The Offload:

“In 2018 when England toured South Africa we highlighted him as one of the main threats in the team and we tried to get to him a little bit and pressurise him. I think in the first or second he was man of the match and he was 19 or 20 at that stage so it just speaks volumes for his character.”

The former Scotland international touched upon Curry’s influence on the team as well as his future amid growing speculation that he could one day lead England.

“Having worked with him and met him he’s astounded me at how he has an appetite to improve, how he wants to get better every day in every session and he’s just an unbelievable team man – that bodes well for his future that he will be a big part of the English pack going forward.”

With the British and Irish Lions series against the Springboks on the horizon, Curry is in a strong position to be selected by Warren Gatland, but every Test is another audition and the visit to the Aviva Stadium this weekend will be no different.

'Tom is a hell of a player now and will get better and better and turn into someone like Richie McCaw.'

– reports @chrisjonespress ???https://t.co/Sv5unxoLGf

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 15, 2021