Curry injury evokes Butcher memories, and a few tears for his worried mother

TOM CURRY’S mother was reduced to tears when confronted by the sight of her son gushing blood from a wound on his forehead in England’s rout of France.

The gruesome image of Curry playing with his face and jersey covered in blood evoked memories of Three Lions hardman Terry Butcher, who was similarly soaked during a World Cup qualifier against Sweden in 1989.

Twenty-year-old Curry was born nine years after the famous photo of Butcher was taken and the Sale openside had to be told who the England defender was by forwards coach Steve Borthwick.

It took six stitches to patch up Curry in the 44-8 victory at Twickenham and he returned to the fray with the greatest harm suffered by his mother Susanne.

“My mum’s tears had dried up by the end I think,” he said. “Mum was asking me on Tuesday night if my head was all right, but everything is fine.

“My mum’s been trying to get me to wear a scrum cap for 20 years. She’s definitely pushing for it now.

“Everyone was actually surprised how small the cut was given how much blood there was.

“I thought I was just sweating, then it came up on the big screens and the whole crowd went,‘Oooh’. It wasn’t painful at all. It didn’t even swell up.

“I’ve heard about Terry Butcher now. We spoke about him. But if I had been shown a picture I wouldn’t have known that was Terry Butcher.”