England's Tom Curry runs with the ball during their 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final against the Springbos at Stade de France in Saint-Denis England's Tom Curry runs with the ball during their 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final against the Springbos at Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP
England loose forward Tom Curry won’t be available for this weekend’s Test match at Twickenham against world champions South Africa.
England coach Steve Borthwick said the 26-year-old Curry picked up a head knock during their 42-37 loss to the Wallabies on the weekend.
“I’ll be waiting for the full medical report and understand where everyone is at, but I think everyone saw the way Tom was down and he won’t be available next week,” Borthwick said after Saturday’s game.
Curry was at the centre of a controversy that saw Springbok hooker Bongi Mbonambi almost miss out of the Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks.
During and after the Springboks’ semi-final win over England, Curry accused Mbonambi of making a racist statement towards him, something the hooker denied.
After a thorough investigation by World Rugby, Mbonambi was not charged and was cleared to take part in the final. However, Mbonambi’s final lasted all of two minutes as he had to go off after sustaining an injury to his knee.
The Springboks would go on to win an unprecedented fourth Rugby World Cup title.
In an interview with the Daily Mail two months ago, Curry stuck to his story that he had been racially abused by Mbonambi.
“I heard what I heard. That’s all I really want to say about it and I won’t really be talking about it again. It was tough for my family, my girlfriend and my brother,” said the England flanker.
“It was a tough experience but it is what it is. The investigation’s been done and that’s all I want to say about it.”
Speaking to BBC Sport Africa after the Springboks’ return home, Mbonambi labelled England as "unprofessional" after Curry’s allegations.
Mbonambi said the incident arose because Curry failed to realise he was speaking Afrikaans, a common practice among the Springboks to ensure opponents do not understand their messages.
"I think it is a very sad thing when you live in a first world country (England), you think the rest of the world speaks English,“ the hooker said at the time.
"It was unprofessional on their part. They could have gone on a website and looked for an English dictionary and looked for the word in Afrikaans.
"People understood (in South Africa), but obviously their side was misunderstood."
IOL Sport
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