Steve Diamond gives wonderfully blunt assessment of England's 'Curry at 8' experiment
Eddie Jones is viewing Tom Curry as ‘No8 project’ for England, but Sale boss Steve Diamond will not be playing the back row in that position for the ambitious Gallagher Premiership club.
With Mark Wilson and Saracens’ Billy Vunipola unavailable, Jones controversially used Curry at No8 in the opening Six Nations loss to France last Sunday and he looks certain to continue with what many believe is an unnecessary experiment in next Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland at Murrayfield.
Jones has ignored viable alternatives at No8 in Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt, Bristol’s Nathan Hughes and Exeter’s Sam Simmonds and is certain Curry can handle the different role.
However, Sale boss Diamond, who is preparing his team Friday night’s Premiership Cup semi-final at home to Saracens that will feature fit-again Wilson following knee surgery, doesn’t see any benefit for the Manchester-based club in giving Curry game time at No8 in a side captained by Jono Ross, their regular No8.
Diamond told RugbyPass: “I haven’t had any conversation with Eddie about Tom playing No8 and he won’t play at No8 for us.
(Continue reading below…)
Michael Fatialofa fund-raising campaign is launched following his move to a specialist spinal injury clinic
“Tom has a very good skills set but his best position is six or seven… but you have to remember I’m a mere minnow in the world of coaching. I have only seen this guy playing six or seven for the last three years!
“The irony of it is this is that if your team gets to the final of a World Cup and the best player in that team is Tom Curry – for example – then why would you play him out of position?
“However, I always back the national coach and fair play to Eddie, he will see him in a couple of games and if it doesn’t work out he will revert him back to his best position.”
No let-up yet regarding England's hottest Six Nations topic https://t.co/eGOPToajN9
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 5, 2020
Turning to matters Sale, while Diamond is pleased that Wilson’s injury has now come right, it won’t be until the February 21 league game versus Leicester that South African World Cup winners Lood de Jager and Faf de Klerk come into selection contention.
De Jager has been recovering from the shoulder injury suffered in the World Cup final while de Klerk has been rehabilitating a knee ligament injury he collected on club duty this season.
“Mark Wilson will be on the bench against Saracens for the semi-final and is ready for action having trained really well,” explained Diamond.
‘There is a nice balance to that back row and the issue that Eddie left out Dombrandt… that is causing a difference of opinion’
– @jameshaskell tells @chrisjonespress what he makes of the backlash Eddie Jones has faced over the @EnglandRugby back row
https://t.co/YYSXx3LRVT— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 4, 2020
“He will be covering all the back row positions looking after Ben Curry, Jono Ross and Dan du Preez’s positions. With Lood and Faf, we are looking at them being ready for Leicester at home.
“We have these two big games with Saracens – the semi-final and then at their place in the league – and the statistics show we have played them 17 times and beaten them only three times.
“I don’t care who they have missing because they have a system and a structure that works. In our quest to get to where we want to be as a club then we need to try our best in all competitions.”
WATCH: The Rugby Pod reflects on England’s loss in Paris and looks ahead to the Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments