Tom Curry Reports Peak Fitness and Improved Play After Injury Recovery

Tom Curry, who made his England debut five days before his 19th birthday on the 2017 summer tour to Argentina, has declared his physical state to be “head and shoulders” better than it was during England’s recent summer tour. The flanker’s comments come ahead of the Autumn Nations Series fixture: England v New Zealand Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday 2 November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT Coverage: Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds and follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. The 26-year-old had undergone hip surgery in February. His inclusion in England’s tour of Japan and New Zealand came as a surprise, as he had played only a single game for Sale Sharks since recovering from the injury. Curry, who participated in all three Tests from the bench, previously characterized the hip damage as being like a “car crash” and recounted how the apprehension of potentially having to retire from rugby caused him to “curl up into a ball and cry”. Before Saturday’s initial autumn international against New Zealand, Curry informed BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly: “I am flying and feel like I have learnt a lot about my body from the summer tour to now. It feels head and shoulders like what it was like before and I feel I am genuinely getting better now as a player. Getting back for the summer tour was testing, but I have now been able to get back physically.” Curry, who has 53 caps, commended the “amazing” efforts of England head coach Steve Borthwick and the Sale staff for their role in his recovery to full fitness. The flanker only played his first complete match since the injury this month. Despite being a regular for England in the previous two Rugby World Cups, Curry took on the unaccustomed position of replacement during the win against Japan and the consecutive losses to New Zealand, participating for 29, 30, and 31 minutes across the three fixtures. The Sale Shark further stated: “With that sort of injury, you had to get obsessive. I’ll speak now on behalf of my 80-year-old grandad, but your hip does almost affect your life, if you have a bad one it does take your focus on your thinking. This wasn’t an injury from anything physical in rugby, it was just wear and tear. I have been looking at biomechanics more than anything in terms of how I can move better. It is not about lifting the heaviest weights or lifting the quickest, it is just about being more in touch with your body – it sounds a very deep thought.” Fly-half George Ford, also a Sale player, has similarly recovered from injury and is available for the match against New Zealand. The 31-year-old successfully overcame a quad injury that had jeopardized his participation in the opening game, a development that did not surprise Curry. Curry added: “I remember rooming with him before [in my first camp] and as soon as he dropped his bags he was doing spider diagrams on how to be the best player in the world. There was a physical, mental and tactical side on this spider diagram. I was thinking this is crazy. He just seems to have so much time in terms of being so studious on the game, but also be so diligent with his body – that is the impressive thing.” The game on Saturday at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium will mark Curry’s first appearance at the venue since Eddie Jones’ last match as coach, which was a loss to South Africa in the autumn of 2022. He further stated: “It has been a long time since I have played at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium. When you get to play there, it is special, when you get to play the All Blacks it is even more special.”