Blow for Eddie as concussed Curry is out of Australia tour
ENGLAND flanker Tom Curry has been ruled out for the remainder of the series in Australia with concussion.
The 24-year- old, captain of the team against the Barbarians last month, suffered the injury during the first half of England’s defeat in Perth. He travelled to Brisbane with the squad on Sunday but has since been stood down ‘in the interest of player welfare and recovery’, having suffered three concussions in six months.
Medics have advised the forward to return home for assessment and he is set to fly back to the uK this week. Curry is an ever-present in Eddie Jones’s teams and the coach must shake up his forward pack in a bid to salvage the series. In- form lewis ludlam is the front-runner to take over the no 7 jersey but Jack Willis and Sam underhill are also in contention.
While Curry’s tour is over, for teenage sensation Henry Arundell it feels like just the beginning and he has been reflecting on his amazing try with his first touch in Test rugby at the weekend. He is still finding his feet at london Irish but a year after leaving Harrow School he scored a stunning try in Perth, blasting between two defenders then leaving James o’Connor and Samu Kerevi in his wake before crossing in the corner.
Arundell said: ‘Everyone’s gutted with the result but on a personal level and for my family, it’s an incredible day. I didn’t think I’d ever do that type of thing.
‘I wasn’t expecting to play. I had a calf injury the week before so I missed out on the Baa-Baas game. I was just thinking about training well and see what happened in the second or third Tests. I’m still an apprentice player. When they announced the team, it was overwhelming. It was a really special moment to tell my family I would be playing. My dad and my brother flew out. They are going to come to Brisbane. Whether I play in that or not, I don’t know.’
Asked to talk through the try which announced his talent to a global audience, Arundell, 19, said: ‘All week the coaches were telling me, “Just get on the ball and play with your instincts”.
‘Before I went on, Ellis genge and Tom Curry just said, “get the ball”. It was the same when I went on, Joe Marchant and Marcus Smith said, “We’re going to get you the ball”, then Fred Steward gave me a good pass. It was just, “go — and see what happens”. There was no thinking to it, I just tried to find space, get off the tackle and try to score. It’s an instinct thing and that’s how I want to play.’
For someone so inexperienced, Arundell exudes serenity. ‘I was calm during the day of the game,’ he said. ‘But on the bus to the stadium I was nervous.
‘The players were saying, “Enjoy the moment, you only get your first cap once”. So it was things like taking my headphones off when we were on the bus because I wanted to embrace everything.
‘At the moment I don’t want to fast-forward too much. I want to appreciate what has happened. It’s great to score a try but we didn’t win. The main focus is winning this series and winning the World Cup.’