6 days ago
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Argentina have lodged a complaint and called for an investigation into the alleged tunnel scuffle involving the England flanker Tom Curry and their head coach, Felipe Contepomi, after Sunday’s game at Twickenham.
In an extraordinary press conference after England’s 27-23 victory, Contepomi described Curry as a “bully” and accused the flanker of shoving him in the tunnel and telling him to “fuck off”. Contepomi also claimed Curry had “broken” the knee of the Argentina full-back Juan Cruz Mallía with a “reckless” tackle – an incident that seemed to spark the bad blood after the final whistle.
Argentina have confirmed that Mallía has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after Curry’s tackle. There is a 24-hour citing window for Six Nations Rugby – organiser of the Autumn Nations Series – to bring action against the England back-row for the tackle, while it can also begin disciplinary proceedings into the incident in the tunnel.
Argentina players were incensed with Curry – who was penalised for the tackle – and surrounded him on the pitch after the match. The bad feeling spilled over into the tunnel, with Contepomi saying: “He came off in the tunnel and he gave me a little smack. I’m 48. [It was] not a smack, a push, a hit here on the chest. So maybe it is his nature, I don’t know. Probably those are the guys we are rewarding and we praise. Maybe that’s where we want rugby to go, I don’t know.
“How old is he – 27? He is strong and I am 48 and he comes and just shoves me. Luckily there are probably cameras there … Richard Hill was there so you can ask him. I was standing there [in the tunnel] and he was coming and wanted to say hi to one of our coaches but we said no because we were upset. He was reckless and broke our player’s knee. I know it is rugby but if we don’t look after each other in rugby, it could be dangerous.
“He was coming [into the tunnel] and [we] said: ‘Mate, you broke his knee,’ and he said: ‘F*** off,’ and pushed me. Maybe that is the way he is, I don’t know him. I am not happy with the situation. After breaking someone’s knee, you need to be at least humble enough and respectful to say: ‘Sorry, I did something wrong,’ but he went the opposite [way]. Maybe it is his way of being a bully. If we want bullies in this game, good on them. It was a late, late tackle, or reckless.”
Steve Borthwick was quick to come to the defence of Curry, who also found himself in the eye of a storm during the 2023 when he accused South Africa’s Bongi Mbonambi of racially abusing him; the hooker was subsequently cleared by a World Rugby investigation. “I think that anybody in this room who has had any contact with Tom Curry knows there’s a character of a man,” said Borthwick, England’s head coach.
“His character is impeccable. He’s a fantastic team man, a very respectful guy. I think Tom Curry’s character is unquestionable. I’m unaware of what happened in the tunnel, but post-game, on the pitch, emotions are always flying high. You see that in almost every game, whether it’s a Test match or club game, or even a national one. That’s part of the past of rugby.”
