Tom’s brother in arms takes World Cup flight
TO see a family member competing in a World Cup final must be a nerve-racking thing to watch, but what must it be like for a twin?
Sale’s Ben Curry has flown to Japan to watch his brother – and Sharks team-mate Tom – as England take on South Africa bidding to be crowned the world’s best.
“I’m very proud obviously, as are all of the family,” said Ben, who has been given permission by the Sharks to miss tomorrow’s Gallagher Premiership match against Bristol and travel to watch his twin.
“He’s done really well to get to where he is, and he’s worked really hard so, yeah, I’m really proud of him.
“We’re obviously very supportive of Tom, and we’re so proud that we’re going to be able to watch him in Japan. But it doesn’t matter what it is, we’d support him if he was playing in an under 15s match, or if it’s a World Cup final, as it is in this case.”
As is often the case with siblings, Ben reveals that the pair were always in competition with each other as kids.
“Yeah, we’re very competitive, that’s the way we were brought up,” he told M.E.N. Sport.
“We’ve always been that way and it’s just how we get the best results out of each other. When you’re competitive, it helps the other person step up and improve and that’s what we’ve always done.”
Tom was heavily involved in the win over New Zealand which saw England progress to the final, and the last time the Kiwi’s lost a World Cup match, the twins were nineolder
years-old. “Obviously the big role model for us growing up – as well as most people – was Jonny Wilkinson, he was such a great player,” said Ben.
“But we looked at a range of players and looked and what made them good and whether we could use that.”
The twins grew up watching their dad, David, play for Crewe and Nantwich, and Ben – who is 90 minutes
than Tom – explained it was those younger years, going to watch their dad, which encouraged them to pursue their passion for rugby.
And they also come from good rugby stock, with their uncle John Olver a former England international too.
“It all started by going down and watching dad,” said Ben. “We went to as many games as we could, and enjoyed watching the games, and it inspired us to play and improve as we got older.”
Tom will face a Sale team-mate on Saturday in Faf de Klerk.
“They get on in the club,” said Ben. “But as soon as that whistle blows, it’ll be like they don’t know each other, and that’s how it should be.
“They’re both professionals and know what they’re doing, I’m sure they’ll have a chat after the match, but up to that point, they’re opposition.”