Ben Curry issues injury update on 'unbelievable' twin Tom after win over Scotland in Six Nations
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England back row Ben Curry could not have dreamed up a more dramatic victory in the 2025 Guinness Men’s Six Nations. England now have back-to-back wins in the tournament, after they edged past Scotland by the skin of their teeth in round three. A late missed conversion from Finn Russell was enough for England to hold on for the 16-15 win, with celebrations lifting the roof off the Allianz.
Whilst Ben Curry was apart of the frenzied fray that won the match on the pitch, his twin brother Tom had to settle for a front row seat for the closing moments of the drama-fueled contest. Tom Curry sustained a dead leg mid-way through the match, and despite trying to shrug off the bruising blow, the Sale man had to limp off the pitch and make way for Chandler Cunningham-South early in the second half.
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Ben Curry started the match amongst the replacements, but was flung into the fold sooner than first expected. Tom Willis suffered a head injury at the 35th minute, after a nasty clash of heads with prop Ellis Genge left the Saracen out of sorts. Willis failed the subsequent HIA, with Ben Curry working overtime in the exhaustive effort against Scotland. Ben expressed how his twin brother seems to be well on the mend, and how Tom does not help himself by putting his body on the line.
“He's fine, he's just got a dead leg. It's just Tom, isn't it? He doesn't make it easy for himself, but it's unbelievable; I love playing with him. When I come on the pitch and he's there, it feels like we're 10 again. I love it.'
“He puts his head in some dark places, doesn't he? He gets through a ton of work and it's a sign not just of a good rugby player but of his character as well. You talk around looking around the circle (huddle) and looking people in the eyes, I have no doubt how anyone could question his integrity, his desire and his willingness to put the team above himself. You see that week-in, week-out and I don't think there's anyone better in the world at it.”
Ben Curry is certainly full of admiration for his twin brother, and expressed how he enjoys playing for both Sale and England more when he lines up in the back row with Tom. Ben opened up on how he has prior experience of speaking on the topic with a psychologist, and also expressed what he said to his twin when he first noticed Tom had sustained an injury in the Calcutta Cup clash.
"I enjoy it more. When you've been something since you were 4 years old. I've been speaking to a psychologist about it, I think Tom probably doesn't need me, I really enjoy it. It gets me going. You know about looking people in the eye, I look him in the eye and I'm like: yes, I want to do this with you.”
"He was hobbling around. I was like: there's 4 minutes, the team needs you to play an 80. Obviously he didn't. I was saying: you've got 4 minutes just end yourself here and see what happens at half time. If you get everyone on that same page, then you have an incredible team.”
Ben Curry described the win as ‘nuts’ and ‘crazy’, with nothing better in the back row’s eyes than a long awaited victory over Scotland, than to reclaim possession of the immortalised Calcutta Cup. Curry was full of emotion after he exited a cavalcade of noise, as the England players enjoyed the adulation as Calcutta Cup holders. Steve Borthwick’s side have the trophy back for the first time since 2020, with Curry calling the win “what you dream of.”
“It was nuts, crazy.” Curry said, in a post-match media session at the Allianz Stadium. “Words can't really describe it at the moment. It's what you dream of; beating Scotland in the Calcutta Cup, especially personally for me in terms of two years away, it was my first start and not getting the result we wanted, so to have that at home in the same fixture is unreal.”
The Sale Sharks man experienced an emotional roller-coaster within the last minute of the match, Scotland flyer as Duhan van der Merwe dotted down in the corner, for what most believed would be the cutting blow for England. However, the titanic wing was forced to score out in the far corner of the pitch, and the angle proved too much for Finn Russell to add the all important conversion. The ball failed to split the uprights, and Curry explained how his former England captain Jamie George changed the re-start game-plan within a matter of breathless seconds.
"That huddle – we took a breath and Jamie was like… we thought he (Finn Russell) was going to get it, so Jamie was saying; ‘we're gonna go short (on the kick-off), we're gonna get the ball back and then we're going to score.’
“Then obviously he (Russell) missed it, so then we changed it to a long kick off. (Jamie George said) ‘we're just going to pin them, no one touch the breakdown, don't give them penalties.’ Obviously, we gave them a penalty which was pretty stupid, (but we) just back our defense and it worked.”
Curry then expanded upon how it is a real benefit to have the former England captain come off the bench. Whilst Maro Itoje takes plenty of plaudits in his own right as England skipper, Jamie George’s second half influence was once again pivotal in his side’s second half success in the Six Nations.
"It's great having Jamie come on. Maro's a great leader but also you can't just rely on one person. With me being relatively new to the environment, having Jamie come as another voice, probably a bit different to Maro, they definitely compliment each other quite nicely, it's so clear.
“We did get it wrong which is annoying, but it's so clear what your job is: tackle, get up, make another tackle, run. It's actually run and hit, don't give away a penalty.”
“The messaging at half-time was really clear. Scotland came with a really clear game-plan to attack us with width, width and it took us a while to get used to it. We got a bit tight in defence and they exploited that. They've got great players out wide. In the second half, I wouldn't say we solved it but we took steps to help ourselves.”
England’s defence then took a focal point of the post match conversation, with Ben Curry pulling back the curtain to reveal the methods behind the madness. Since Joe El-Abd’s appointment to the defence coach role this past Autumn, England have employed an altered version of the high line-speed blitz defence system, which was introduced by El-Abd’s predecessor Felix Jones.
The new defensive system still enables the England players the opportunity to fly out of the line for a high-octane hit, whilst also allowing a more measured approach to reading the opponents attacking structure and reacting according to what they see. England fans witnessed the likes of Ollie Lawrence and Tom Curry make their presence with dominant tackles, and Ben Curry revealed how the system in place is all the more rewarding, with mutual respect earned following a hard work ethic.
“It was like being in a tumble dryer! It was just, "Make a tackle, get up, make another one". The big thing with Joe (El-Abd) and Tom (Curry) as a defensive leader is that it's about earning respect from your mates and doing it for each other. We want to hit for each other, we don't want to let our mates down. You can see that lads want to work for each other and it's deeper than just the rugby. You want to earn respect from your mates and we're getting there.”
"That's what the best teams do. If you want to be one of the best teams, that is the balance between going 100 per cent and having the coolness to be disciplined. It is hard but we want to be that team.”
The mentality that the England players have established in their own defensive output, sees them put their bodies on the line for the mates as the upmost priority. No stranger to the contact area, Curry explained the mindset that he and his teammates are all striving to find.
"My personal view on defence, is that it's got to mean more than just tackling. You've got to want to hit people. It's an unnatural thing to put your place in a dark place where it shouldn't be. You've got to have a deeper reason to do that, especially in our defence. We want to try and tackle in twos – so it requires you to be on the same page as your mates. You don't want to go in halfheartedly because you know your mate's going in 100 per cent, it's like guilt. You know he's flying in, I'm not going to let him down.”
“We've all got points of difference so it's about, when you come into the team, using them. Everyone just has to rip in and not over-think it, especially with Chandler (Cunningham-South), just get the ball in his hands and let him bang people; don't over-think it. If you look at Tom Willis and Ben Earl too, the combinations are good. We've got a good mini unit.”
“That's the thing in international rugby, especially with Finn (Russell) at 10, you feel like you've got them with a dominant contact, a dominant contact, then Finn pulls it, they go wide and they've made 20 or 30 metres. So, no is the answer (to the success of dominant hits)! You think you've got them, but they've got such good players and they just go somewhere else.”
“We knew the referee rewarded turnovers so the clear message for me during the week, was to come on and have a go at it (breakdown). It was quite nice to have it as, "Right, you're on" so I could just get involved in the game – and I'm really enjoying playing for this team at the moment.”
EDITORS PICKS
- "I heard, 'It's not a try'" – Gregor Townsend reacts to Scotland's controversial defeat to England
- "Referee will make the calls" – Steve Borthwick and Maro Itoje react to narrow win over Scotland
- "Referee said I got it down" – Tommy Freeman gives verdict on controversial try against Scotland
- 5 Things You Missed: England 16-15 Scotland – 2025 Six Nations
QUIZ: Can You Name the England XV that Won the 2020 Six Nations?
England last won the Six Nations in 2020, in what was a crowning achievement during the Eddie Jones era. Coming off the back of the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final heartbreak, England bounced back to win their seventh Six Nations title since the competition’s Italian expansion in 2000.
England secured the trophy with a win in Rome, as they handed Italy a one-sided 34-5 bonus point defeat. We are challenging you to remember who started for England that day, as the match was played in front of an empty stadium during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
You have five minutes to provide your answers, good luck!
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