Analysis: How Tom Curry has become England's jack of all trades
When Tom Curry first broke onto the international scene, he looked like the openside flanker England had long been looking for. A series of stunning performances in the No7 jersey suggested that between him and Sam Underhill, England were assured of an aspect of their game they had long been missing.
On Underhill’s return from injury, Eddie Jones decided to maximise the impact his two young flankers could make by asking Curry to work on his lineout jumping so he could move to the blindside. He did that with distinction, consistently being one of England’s most impressive performers at the World Cup in Japan.
When Billy Vunipola’s latest arm injury ruled him out of the Six Nations, many assumed Jones would look to one of the specialist No8s in the English Premiership or recall Nathan Hughes. But he did neither, instead calling upon Curry’s versatility yet again to adapt to another position.
Vunipola is an irreplaceable player and Jones made clear he was looking for an alternative way for England to play without him rather than for Curry to try to replicate his impact.
So how was Curry used in the No8 jersey in the Guinness Six Nations? In a myriad of different ways, it turns out…
A modern sweeper
It’s not unusual for teams to ask a powerful ball carrier to drop back as they engage in back-and-forth kicking, allowing them to get up a head of steam as they run towards a less well-organised defensive line. England have often used Vunipola and Manu Tuilagi in this way, for example.
Likewise, teams often ask their best tacklers to chase their own kicks, putting the opposition under pressure as they try to collect, or a jackaller to sweep the field and take on an isolated runner in a poor kick return.
But most teams have different players doing these things, making the most of their different skill sets. Curry is doing all of them for England and he has been for a while now.
He might not be as powerful as Vunipola but he is quick, an excellent tackler and one of England’s best turnover merchants. That makes him extremely useful in a number of different kicking scenarios.
Taking a restart against Wales last Saturday, he used his footwork to make a few crucial metres and then secured the ball for England to get it away.
Here, against Ireland in round three, he chased down the kick-off to try and turn the ball over immediately, although in this instance Conor Murray managed to exit successfully.
He did the same repeatedly against Wales, chasing restarts and assessing breakdown opportunities.
A different type of ball carrier
The best ball carriers aren’t just powerful, they use their feet cleverly whether that is to twist through the grasp of defenders or to explode into contact and gain a precious extra metre or so.
Here, Curry showed he was more than capable of the former, very nearly breaking through Ireland’s defence.
Against Wales, he showed his smarts as a carrier again. England’s scrum was dominant so they had a penalty coming, but Curry controlled the ball (showing how quickly he has already improved in that area since the game against France) and broke down the blindside, sucking in the Welsh defence further to give England a chance of scoring a try during their advantage.
A link man and auxiliary half-back
Perhaps what was most interesting about Curry is how he was being used as a distributing option.
In the past, Jones raised eyebrows by suggesting that Ben Curry, Tom’s twin, might act as a scrum-half as well as a flanker. Ben remains uncapped but his twin has showed that Jones’ idea works in practice.
As the player tasked with distributing off England’s lineout, he passed the ball swiftly and accurately to Courtney Lawes.
He immediately followed this up by performing a more traditional flanker task, securing the ball at the ruck after Tuilagi’s carry and allowing Ben Youngs to get the ball away quickly.
He linked up well with Youngs again later in the same match. First, he showed his passing skills, unleashing Tuilagi. Then he arrived at the ruck to support Tuilagi and as Youngs tries to dummy through the line, he got up from the ruck to take the offload and get the ball sweetly to Jonny May.
This doubling up with Youngs was seen again against Wales with Curry setting up England’s first try. Again, he was the first distributor off the lineout, which allowed Youngs the space to make a perfect pass back to Anthony Watson. It was a perfect example of how England were using Curry in pre-planned moves.
Taking one for the team
Having a No8 like Vunipola can make life very easy for a scrum-half, reliably getting the team over the gain line and giving the No9 options in attack. But that is not the only way to help out a scrum-half.
The way Curry was playing at No8 seemed to be bringing out the best in Youngs, who had two standout games in a row. Curry’s comfort acting as a sweeper and a distributor meant Youngs could pick and choose his opportunities more to maximise his impact, while his clever carrying meant the team didn’t get stuck behind the gain line.
In the same way that having one flanker responsible for the grunt work allows the other to focus on turnovers and link play, having a No8 like Curry freed up other players to focus on their own game (incidentally, he still did a lot of the grunt work).
He is not the first flanker to successfully convert to No8, of course. In recent years, David Pocock and Josh Navidi demonstrated how roles across the back row can be interchangeable as long as you have balance.
But Curry is perhaps one of the most interesting modern examples, given the variety of ways he was used in the position. Has Jones found a genuine alternative to Vunipola at No8 for England? After a shaky start, it seems like he might have done.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
45 Go to comments