Tom Curry adamant ‘no excuses’ for England ahead of Australia match
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
New Zealand's Beauden Barrett clashes with England's George Furbank, Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade during their international Test.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON – Tom Curry insists England’s rugby players must take responsibility for their repeated failure to close out winning positions and adopt a “no excuses” approach, as they look to revive their fortunes against Australia at Twickenham on Nov 9.
England have lost their last three Tests – all against New Zealand – after squandering an advantage in the final quarter. They also fell short against France in their last match of the Six Nations and they now head into the Wallabies clash having won just four of their nine Tests in 2024.
Last weekend they were eight points up late on against the All Blacks, only to suffer a 24-22 loss at Twickenham.
England coach Steve Borthwick was criticised for being overly cautious in taking off half-backs Ben Spencer and Marcus Smith with his side on top, but Curry said the players, not the staff, were to blame.
“We can’t be making excuses. As players, we have to step up and be more consistent,” the flanker said.
“Discipline-wise, we let ourselves down. At 40 minutes it was one penalty conceded, two penalties at 60 minutes and then at 80 minutes it had built up (to seven in total).
“If we solved this the whole time, sport would be easy. That’s the beauty of it – we have to find a way. We’ve had all the right messages from the coaches. We as players need to step up. There are no excuses.”
Australia have also struggled lately, losing five of their six matches in the 2024 Southern Hemisphere Rugby Championship under former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt.
The New Zealander, who took charge after Eddie Jones oversaw a woeful 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign where the Wallabies crashed out in the pool stage, has just a handful of games in which to forge an Australia revival before the 2025 three-Test Series at home to the British and Irish Lions.
But Rugby Australia chief commercial officer James Durbin insisted that Schmidt was already “having an influence” on the team, saying: “In his words it is progress that he’s looking for, he’s not looking at ‘Ws’ (wins) and ‘Ls’ (losses) in his ledger at the moment.
“It’s more about how we’re playing the game and ensure we continue to progress as we look ahead to July next year.”
Durbin, however, also said: “We’re a proud nation of sporting fans and athletes, and we don’t go onto the pitch to come second.” AFP
