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The Ardie Savea comparison that has Tom Curry at No8 for England
By Liam Heagney
Eddie Jones has explained the logic behind picking regular England flanker Tom Curry as the starting No8 for this Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series opener versus Tonga at Twickenham. The 23-year-old has only occupied the No8 shirt in four of his previous 32 England starts and he was last selected in that role for the March 2020 Guinness Six Nations game versus Wales.
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Curry since went on to become the first-choice Lions openside for their 2021 three-Test tour in South Africa and the expectation with Billy Vunipola excluded from the current England squad was that Alex Dombrandt, the title-winning No8 from Harlequins, would be chosen to fill that role at the back of the scrum against the Tongans.
However, Jones has decided differently, confining Dombrandt to the Twickenham bench and starting Curry at No8 in a back row where he will be flanked by Courtney Lawes and Sam Underhill.
Asked why he had opted to select in this way, England boss Jones highlighted the various skills of Curry and compared his ability to All Blacks star Ardie Savea, another flanker who in recent times has switched into the No8 jersey at Test level.
“A lot of things,” said Jones on being quizzed why Curry has the ability to play No8 rather than start in his more familiar role at flanker. “Firstly, defensively he is probably one of the best defensive back-rowers in the world.
TEAM NEWS: Eddie Jones has named his much changed side and there is a surprise regarding the positioning of Tom Curry…#AutumnNationsSeries #England #ENGvTON
https://t.co/itDkLjHjmx— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 4, 2021
“His one-on-one tackling, his ability to get his head over the ball and then since he first came into the squad in 2017 where he came in mainly as a defensive player, he has evolved his game to include some running skills, some passing skills and some linkage skills more importantly.
“So with the back row we have got initially with Courtney, a pretty strong ball runner, and Underhill, strong over the ball, it will give a chance to mix his game between running and linking and his defensive work and he has got the ability to do that.
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“You know, there are two players in the world that are similar at the moment in that aspect and it is him and Ardie Savea. They are both natural sevens but have got the capacity to be outstanding eights because they have the ability to carry the ball, to link and still do the defensive work.
“So we are very excited about seeing Tom play at 8. He played there before and this will be another opportunity for him to take another step forward.”
Sam Simmonds is back at Exeter preparing for their Premiership game versus Newcastle after getting cut loose by England on Tuesday evening #AutumnNationsSeries #England #ENGvTON #GallagherPrem #EXEvNEW
https://t.co/SMr5N3GT8g— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 3, 2021
Savea can play 8 because he has a destructive running game, Curry is not a weak carrier, but he's not as destructive as Dombradt or Simmonds... or Savea.
Eddie just doesn't like picking players that fans and pundits like, he's just stubborn. Check out his logic.
Curry is a great defesnive player and can link up well... which he can do at 6 or7, look at the way Back or McCaw impacted the game from that position. So that doesn't explain why you'd play him at 8.
Maybe it's to include Courtney Lawes? Well he did say he's a good ball carrier... but on form, not as good as Dombradt, and surely you can play him in the 2nd row, or off the bench?
So that doesn't pass the sniff test. If you played the best No 8 in European rugby (on form) who is a dynamic ball carrier near the ruck and out wide, with great hands... and play Curry at 6... you lose nothing at all.
Courtney is 32. We know what he brings (and it's a lot) but we need to be building for the next WC. We need to be giving someone like Dombradt international experience.