Curry confident England can rule again
SALE flanker Ben Curry is determined to bring his Premiership experience to bear and prove to Eddie Jones he is worth another shot in the autumn.
Curry, who toured Argentina with the senior side last summer and started 18 Premiership games for the Sharks last season, believes playing alongside established players like Jono Ross and Josh Strauss has honed his preparation for the tournament. Curry, 19, told The Rugby
Paper: “You’re around really good players in the Premiership and having Jono and Josh in our back row really helped.
“Jono’s brought some fantastic leadership that I’ve leant a lot from, and I’m now looking to emulate that with this team and do the best job I can.
“Jono’s very well known for being a tough competitor, so that’s something I like to take into my own game as well. It’s a new challenge going into a quick-fire tournament like this but one I’m ready for.”
Curry says England are motivated by their Six Nations failure, when defeat by Pool opponents Scotland denied them a Grand Slam and the title.
“Any defeat is annoying as we want to be the best team in the world,” Curry said.
“The memory of that is a massive driving force and we’ve got Scotland and Italy in our Pool so we know they’ll be good challenges. But we have to face Argentina in our first match this week and we certainly can’t afford to think too far ahead.
“Argentina are a bit of an unknown entity so we’re just focussing on ourselves and how we can best go into that game. With just a week’s preparation it’s been quite hectic but we know if we play to our best we can beat anybody in the world.”
With twin brother Tom set to tour South Africa with England’s seniors, Ben knows a super showing will put him in line for another shot at that level.
He said: “I learnt a lot from going on that Argentina tour last year and if I can keep on learning, like I have at Sale this season, that’ll be a positive.
“Argentina taught me about the step up in physicality and the mental challenge of senior international rugby, so this is another great opportunity to showcase what I can do and I’ll do everything I can to help this team win.”