[ad_1]
Ben Curry has recovered from COVID just in time for the start of the new Premiership season on Friday – and the Sale flanker is not short of motivation for the campaign ahead.
There are powerful collective and personal agendas driving on the 22-year-old openside. His club have a point to prove, after the ugly fall-out from the virus outbreak which shattered their title bid last month. And his individual objective is to join brother Tom in the England team. Ben believes that there is room for the twins to operate in tandem at Test level, just as they do for the Sharks.
He will line up against Northampton at an empty AJ Bell Stadium for Sale’s opening 2020-21 fixture having had a disrupted mini pre-season, due to enforced isolation. ‘I had COVID about two weeks ago,’ he said.
Ben Curry has warned Sale’s players are out to prove critics wrong this Premiership season
‘I sat down one night to watch a film and started shivering. The next night, I literally sweated through my sheets. I obviously knew something wasn’t right. We got tested on the Monday and my result was negative, just before we were about to come back in for training, but I said, “I don’t think that’s quite right” so I self-isolated anyway. It wasn’t until the week later that I tested positive.’
It was just as well Curry erred on the side of caution. Sale didn’t need another outbreak. The pandemic had already done more than enough damage to their ambitions, after denying them a shot at reaching the play-offs at the end of last season.
As if having to forfeit their final game against Worcester wasn’t bad enough, the Cheshire club became the subject of unfounded allegations about partying at a Manchester university following their Premiership Cup Final victory over Harlequins.
A forensic RFU investigation has absolved Sale of any wrong-doing, which just heightens their sense of outrage about the claims that they had brought 27 COVID cases on themselves. ‘A lot of people commented at the time about the culture and character of our group here, so we have a lot to prove to other people,’ said Curry.
Curry and his team-mates were wrongly accused of partying before the club’s Covid outbreak
‘At the time, there were quite a few deleted tweets which could have been sent out in response to some of the comments! It is how it is now. A lot of people wanted to point fingers at us. A lot of people were angry and everyone these days seems to feel that they have something to say. For us, those opinions are completely irrelevant, but it was tough not to reply to all the stupid comments.’
In reference to the university party allegation, he added: ‘That was the worst part. I nearly replied to that one. My dad had to stop me. Even he was asking me if we were out and I just said, “You know we weren’t out”. People saying those things have to understand how much weight their words carry.
‘Of course the lads didn’t go out – especially to a uni. If we were going out, why would we be going out at a uni? To be honest, even if we’d wanted to go out that night, there was nowhere to go. We got back to the training ground at 11 and nowhere was open.
‘You can see why people were putting two and two together. We’d won the cup, then the next week we had those positive tests. So we got a lot of stick, but we’ve moved on. We are very motivated to go out this season and achieve something.’
Curry (L) believes there is room in the England team for him to feature alongside twin Tom (R)
Ben spent lock-down earlier this year training with Tom. Aside from hair styles, they are identical in their appearance and also remarkably similar in physical attributes and playing ability.
Yet, Tom has blazed a trail with England, starred at the last World Cup and earned a nomination for the world Player of the Year award while Ben has had to settle for developing his game at club level, including the addition of a leadership string to his bow with stints as stand-in captain.
It is a difficult dynamic, but not one he struggles with now. He can be happy for his brother while, at the same time, wanting similar for himself. ‘It was difficult at first,’ he said. ‘When it first happened, I was gutted, well, not gutted exactly, but it was a very mixed time. I was only 18 and I didn’t really know how to handle it.
‘Now, I believe that there is space for me in that England team too. There is space for other back-rowers in that team, if you play well enough – as Jack Willis has proven. It’s a very good back row which went to the World Cup, but Jack found a space in there because he’s played well.
He said he was keen to get back into form and prove his worth to England coach Eddie Jones
‘It has shown other back-rowers like myself what can happen if you focus on yourself and play well. I know what I need to do to get back in that form. It’s about concentrating on what you can bring to that England team, then really driving that home to Eddie Jones.
‘I think that if I play well enough, I can get in that back row. It’s great that Tom is doing that and I’m really happy for him, but I can’t just sit around saying, “Well done, well done”, or I won’t achieve it for myself. You have to almost become a bit selfish about it and think, “Right, this is what I want and no-one is going to hand it to me so I’ve got to go and get it. I have to try to batter that door down.’
Jones rates Tom Curry as a world-class English talent and it must only be a matter of time before he takes advantage of having a near-identical back-row asset at his disposal. Sale value the uncapped twin as at least the equal of the other who has become a global star.
There is such engrained competition between the siblings, which came out in lock-down training as they vied to lift heavier weights than the other, leading to both gaining valuable bulk. That innate desire to drive each other on has long benefited Sale. It could benefit England too.
[ad_2]
Source link
Have something to say? Leave a comment: