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Sale Sharks statement: ‘Disgusting abuse directed at Tom Curry’


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Sake Sharks have issued a statement in support of Tom Curry after the England back-rower and his family were subjected to “disgusting abuse” after he reported being on the receiving end of alleged discriminatory language during last Saturday night’s Rugby World Cup semi-final versus South Africa.

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It emerged in the aftermath of England’s dramatic 16-15 loss to South Africa at Stade de France that Curry had approached referee Ben O’Keeffe midway through the opening half and asked the official. “Sir, if their hooker calls me a white c***, what do I do?” O’Keeffe replied: “Nothing, please. I’ll be on it.”

Curry opted to stay silent in the post-game mixed zone when asked about what had happened, but it emerged on Monday that World Rugby were formally reviewing the allegation in relation to the use of discriminatory language by South African hooker Bongi Mbonambi.

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That situation ignited a heap of negative social media commentary about Curry and his Gallagher Premiership club decided to act on Wednesday, calling out the abuse and issuing its full support for their player.

“Sale Sharks’ owners, players, coaches and staff are absolutely appalled by the nature and level of disgusting abuse directed at Tom Curry and his family in relation to an incident in the England vs South Africa World Cup semi-final,” read the statement.

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“Everyone at the club stands fully and proudly behind Tom and we look forward to welcoming him back to Carrington.”

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TL 1 hour ago
Joe Schmidt bows out on a high - but can the Wallabies escape 'the twilight zone'?

It’s hard to see how any coach could have done much better and that coaches can only shift the dial so much in Australia, we’ve had some of the best in the world and the trajectory has been the same. The win/loss record is obviously an important metric, but it is only one metric, and not necessarily the best to assess a team that is really still in a building phase (2024 was recovery!). You could look at something like average losing margin, and the trajectory there is much better, with the 2025/2026 results close to half the losing margin in 2024 and during Eddie’s reign (roughly 10, compared to closer to 20). Much has been made of the so called merry-go-round at 10 (really sick of that phrase but here I am using it), but losing Noah, Lygnah and Dono between Fiji and SA games in 2025, and Carter then Dono in 2026 had nothing to do with Joe. He consistently backed his first choices and backed youth at 10 when he could. The injuries led to a massive increase in uncertainty around whether to risk players who weren’t ready or back experience but lose the future benefit. In that situation I think we need to permit our coaches a greater degree of experimentation and error. Much has been made of the LSL situation, but what about how Joe’s selections at lock have led to some real depth of capability there, with players that weren’t as conspicuously impressive (e.g. Williams, Canham). Joe has made his mistakes, but he righted the trend that was heading sharply down, and I suspect that as with what he left in Ireland and as with Stuart Lancaster your old mate, the true test of his time will be what happens in the wake.

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