England provide update on injured duo after early exits

England head coach Steve Borthwick has allayed any fears that flanker Tom Curry suffered a serious injury against Scotland despite being substituted early in the second half.

After missing the training week following England’s Guinness Six Nations round two victory over France to manage his hip issue, the 26-year-old went down injured in the first half at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium and received treatment for his leg.

He hobbled on throughout the remainder of the first half before being replaced by Chandler Cunningham-South on 46 minutes- a rarity for a player who usually sees out the entire 80 minutes. Borthwick said post-match that the injury was only a dead leg rather than anything more serious, a year after he underwent hip surgery.

England’s back-row had already been tinkered with by the time the Sale Sharks star was removed, with No.8 Tom Willis being forced from the field and replaced by Ben Curry before half time with a head injury.

“Tom Curry has a dead leg,” Borthwick said. “He took it early in the game and he’s such a tough, brave competitor and eventually, shortly after half time, it became too uncomfortable and I had to take him off the pitch.

“Tom Willis was removed with an HIA.”

In terms of the recovery time for either player, Borthwick expects Curry to be back training by the end of the week, as England prepare to take on Italy in round four in London.

As for the No.8, the head coach was unsure as to how long he will be sidelined for, but he will have over two weeks to recover ahead of the clash with the Azzurri.

Borthwick added: “We expect Tom Curry to be with a dead leg, as dead legs do, a few days, it’ll settle down and he’ll be good. Tom Willis is now in the care of the medical staff.”