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'He is a real physical specimen...and probably the premier No.7 in the country'
Sale captain Jono Ross believes Tom Curry has become England’s outstanding openside flanker and can make the problem No.7 jersey his own in the build-up to this year’s World Cup in Japan.
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Curry, who missed England’s Autumn tests after damaging his wrist, has helped Sale move up to fifth in the Gallagher Premiership table alongside twin brother Ben, who is also pressing for England recognition. Tom has won five caps and will be named in the England Six Nations squad by head coach Eddie Jones next week.
Ross, who plays alongside the Curry boys in the Sale back row, knows that Tom faces competition for the England starting role with Bath’s Sam Underhill the main rival, but his backing his teammate to emerge as Jones’s first choice in the Six Nations which kicks off with England’s daunting trip to face Grand Slam champions Ireland in Dublin on February 2. Exeter’s Sam Simmonds, currently injured, and former captain Chris Robshaw, about to return from injury for Harlequins, are also in the No7 mix.
Ross said: “Tom is a fantastic rugby player and probably the premier No.7 in the country at the moment. He is a real physical specimen and the biggest thing for Tom is to stay injury free. He is definitely a player who stands out every week and has the lead on Ben and if he stays fit it will be a massive year for him.
“Tom and Ben are the epitome of professional rugby players and work really hard, are abrasive and constantly want to learn and get better. Ben has been playing well and is growing as a player and they drive each other. They also push guys around them which is great and really sets the standards.”
Ross and the Curry twins have joined Springbok star Faf de Klerk and former captain Josh Beaumont in signing new long term deals at the club and Steve Diamond, the director of rugby, is planning to add three more South African internationals to the squad after the World Cup. It will give Sale, who are aiming to stay top of their European Challenge Cup pool by winning in Connacht on Saturday, a strong spine to ensure they build on this season’s improvements.
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“The South African players who have joined have bought into what the squad is about and a lot of our guys are young English guys from the area” added Ross, who was born in Johannesburg but is qualified to play for England.
“South Africans are generally hard workers and quite abrasive rugby players and they key thing is that there is realisation that when you get here you have to work hard. That is expected of you if a player has 50 caps or none.
“The challenge for us is to keep our feet on the ground and continue to improve to become even better. Dorian West (forwards coach) has been fantastic since he has come in, is knowledgeable and has got the players to buy into what he wants. He gets the best out of the guys but we know we are not yet where we can be as a pack. We are not the finished article.”
Diamond has made it clear how important Ross is to the club’s planning stating: “Jono is one of the most professional and dedicated players I have ever had the privilege to coach. He is the catalyst of all good things going on at the club.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
If rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
1 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
23 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
23 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
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