Handle with care
England are already thinking about Australia next year. Kevin Sinfield made it clear today that Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso will be managed carefully from here, with the Rugby World Cup the real target.
Feyi-Waboso hurt his ankle in Sunday’s thumping of the Wallabies and is done for the autumn. Curry aggravated a long-running hip problem in training last week and will miss all four Nations Championship games at Allianz Stadium this month.
“He’s still a young man and we’re a better squad when he’s around,” Sinfield said of Curry, calling the flanker world class. Under the deal between England and the Prem clubs, Steve Borthwick now has the final word on workload and medical calls for his 25 elite squad players. Sinfield wants that arrangement to keep Curry playing “for a long, long time”.
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“He’s our Jason Robinson”
On Feyi-Waboso, Sinfield was just as warm. He put the winger’s run of injuries down to how powerfully he is built and compared him to the cross-code great Jason Robinson. Finding a like-for-like replacement for Saturday’s Test against Japan is impossible, he admitted, so whoever comes in will be told to play their own game.
One name stood out. Gloucester’s Will Joseph, younger brother of former England and Lions centre Jonathan, earned glowing praise. “He beats people,” Sinfield said, adding that some of Joseph’s work in training had produced “wow” moments.
Noise from outside
Sinfield also addressed The Times report claiming some players had lost faith in Borthwick during the summer tour. Borthwick and captain Maro Itoje had already dismissed it. Sinfield praised how the head coach dealt with the “outside noise” but refused to link Sunday’s display to the story, calling that unfair on a group that has been building for months.
The test now is repeating it against Eddie Jones’ Japan.
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