New captain Curry has all ingredients to do the job

THE YOUNGEST England captain for 34 years has come of age since being the butt of good-natured jokes at the last World Cup about his sleepwalking, love of cats and being too ‘weird’ to have lunch with.

Tom Curry made a name for himself during the last global showpiece when the rookie flanker took the tournament in Japan by storm as one of Eddie Jones’ so-called ‘Kamikaze Kids’.

He went on to earn a World Player of the Year nomination in recognition of his thunderous exploits as England eclipsed the mighty New Zealand to reach the final in 2019.

Now, at a time when the other Kid — Sam Underhill — is enduring another worrying concussion lay-off, Curry has been chosen to lead England into tomorrow’s Six Nations opener against Scotland at Murrayfield.

The Sale back-rower is still only 23 and not since Will Carling took the job in 1988 have England had such a youthful skipper.

In the circumstances, it is surreal to consider how much has changed since Curry was asked, while in the Far East, about his back-row alliance with Underhill and said: ‘We are both a bit different. He is very relaxed and chilled. I’m a bit less relaxed and chilled. That’s the biggest difference.

‘Apart from that, we are both pretty weird. One of the fines is taking Sam and me for lunch. It probably doesn’t reflect too well on us!’

His status is very different now. Curry is one of the stalwarts of the England pack and one of the few men absolutely assured of starting when fit and available. He has gone from being an openside who adapted to blindside duties, to being an all-rounder capable of wearing No8 in big Test matches and making a decent fist of that unfamiliar role.

Now his star has risen even higher. Being asked to take on the added responsibility of captaincy shows how Curry has impressed Jones by finding his voice and becoming more influential within the set-up.

This is a short-term measure which may turn out to have long-term implications. Regular captain Owen Farrell is injured again and, in his absence, Marcus Smith is taking a grip on the primary playmaker role.

Courtney Lawes was an impressive stand-in skipper during the autumn and a popular figure at the peak of his powers, but the forward is 32, so there is only so much longer he will be able to play on at the highest level.

The door has opened for Curry and if he copes with his enhanced duties in the blood-and-thunder occasion which awaits tomorrow, he may emerge from a crowded bunch as the most likely future England captain. And that future may turn out to be imminent.

Addressing the leadership issue, Jones said: ‘Captaincy is not about the number of caps, it’s about the person who can lead a group of players on to the field and lead by example. There is no better player in our squad than Tom Curry to do that. He leads by example.

‘He reminds me of a young Richie McCaw. As his career progresses, there will be other bits of his captaincy that goes with that. At the start of his career, it’s all about leading by example and getting the team on the front foot. That is in line with how we want to play the game. We want to get on the front foot and take Scotland on.’

The comparison with McCaw — New Zealand’s World Cup-winning captain and icon and perhaps the greatest player the sport has ever seen — suggests that Jones feels Curry can thrive on a pedestal.

And the new skipper responded to his elevation in a matter-of-fact manner, with just a hint of euphoria amid calm statements of intent.

‘It means a hell of a lot,’ he said. ‘You grow up wanting to play for England. To be named captain is pretty emotional. The big thing is that we do a job.’

As is customary in these situations, there was talk of those who have helped him reach this point and Curry joked that a stepping-stone moment was when he was asked to captain his club as a ‘last resort’, towards the end of last season.

He learned a lot from his first international campaign, the 2017 tour of Argentina, when he made his Test debut in San Juan while still a teenager and picked up a lot from being the room-mate of the then-captain Dylan Hartley.

‘Rooming with Dyls was brilliant, seeing how he conducted himself and drove everyone around him,’ he said. ‘I think that is important; how influential he was, not just on the field but off the field.

‘It’s important that you influence people around you, getting together with the lads, extras after sessions, or pushing people in the gym.’

Curry will be considering those aspects now, while also gearing up to lead a breakdown battle against Scotland’s brilliant flankers Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson.

His remit has grown so much, but so has he. The Kid of 2019 is a talisman in 2022.