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The Sale verdict on how Ben Curry has been treated by England
By Liam Heagney
Alex Sanderson has given his verdict on the in-out-in-out-in way that Ben Curry has been treated in recent weeks by England. The 24-year-old won his first Test cap since July 2021 – and his second overall – when named as the starting openside in the Guinness Six Nations opener versus Scotland at Twickenham on February 4. However, he was then omitted from the reduced 29-man squad chosen for the round two match at home to Italy.
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The next twist was Curry getting included in last week’s 25-man fallow week training squad, only to be excluded when Steve Borthwick named his 36-strong squad for this week’s round three match away to Wales.
Curry’s twin brother Tom, the 2021 Lions tourist who was an England regular in the Eddie Jones era, was instead included after he proved his fitness in last Saturday’s Sale match at Northampton, a game that Ben was unavailable for due to his England training selection.
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But there was then another dramatic change to this ever-changing situation when it emerged that Tom had suffered a tournament-ending injury at England training on Monday, resulting in an SOS being sent to Ben who is now in the reduced squad of 26 ahead of Thursday’s selection of the team to play Wales on Saturday.
Has Sale director of rugby Sanderson been happy with the level of communication that has taken place this month between the Sharks, Ben Curry and England? “That’s a big question, it’s a good question,” he pondered at his midweek media briefing ahead of Sunday’s Gallagher Premiership trip to Exeter.
“Ben and Tom, they are England players at this point in the season. I feel fortunate if we get any game time back with them because they are England players and I want them to play for England. There is the added factor that they are twins and these twins play in similar positions and they are in competition (with each other) which makes it more difficult I would say to take when you’re not involved and your twin brother is in your stead.
“That is quite obvious. Anyone would empathise with that. As much you want your brother to be in and you want to play with him, you don’t want to see someone as close as that take the place. It hurts more, especially when you live with them. So there is that.
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“There is the fact that Ben hasn’t been in for quite a long while (with England) and has worked and fought his way in. To reach the pinnacle of his career and then for that rug to be snatched from under his feet is difficult for an inexperienced player to take, someone who has just won his second cap. So you can see kind of what I am getting at.
“We have talked about it as coaches, that is the game and it will happen again and again and again – your ability to handle non-selection to taking on the responsibility when selected. To flip between the two is one of the hardest mental skills that you can acquire.
“Added to that is the fact that it’s his twin that is involved in this. It should be a very sensitive and well-thought-through plan and well-communicated. With the nature of the injuries, with the nature of the fallow week and everything else, I wouldn’t have handled it the same way. Like, I wouldn’t but then I have a great deal more sentimentality towards these two, you see what I am saying here.
“England don’t have to have that sentimentality. They have the pick of the bunch and they are able to pick on form and that is the nature of the international environment compared to the club environment. Have I been communicated to from the camp? Not Borthwick, he is a busy man right now, but (team manager) Richard Hill has been brilliant in terms of his communication, and I have been communicating more so with Ben and Tom because of all the influencing factors which could derail them.
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“It hasn’t derailed them. Ben is in a great place going back in but it has taken no mean effort on the trips home, on the days off in between to reframe his mentality for him playing for us and then going back into England and then coming back to us and then going back to England. That would be difficult anyway, but the fact it is twins makes it more so.”
Asked for his assessment on how Ben Curry played as the England No7 in the round one loss to Scotland, Sanderson added: “I thought he grafted, I thought he was influential in every part of the game. The thing about international rugby is any little mistake that you make gets highlighted, exaggerated.
“Just the stress levels of camp and the knowledge that it is an opportunity and an infrequent one makes it extremely stressful for the player in terms of playing well enough to get selected for another occasion, so it is a threat to his career at that level and it is new to him. I know he was there once before but that game was (new).
“All that is less novel now. He has been in camp, played, knows he can perform at that level so I’m sure he will go into this (against Wales) less mentally stressed and more at ease with his ability to show what he is about and perform at the level he has consistently been performing for us to back up that performance for England. I’m sure it should be easier for him for all those reasons.”
