England have withdrawn concerns; England are comfortable taking Tom Curry and Maro Itoje on the summer tour of Japan and New Zealand, allaying concerns over their involvement.
England are comfortable taking Tom Curry and Maro Itoje on the summer tour of Japan and New Zealand, allaying concerns over their involvement.
Both Lions forwards have told head coach Steve Borthwick they want to be part of the 36-man squad that leaves for Tokyo on Wednesday.
England have withdrawn concerns over the inclusion of Maro Itoje and Tom Curry.
Curry played just 34 minutes of the World Cup after recovering from a career-threatening hip injury, which he described as a “car crash”, for a cameo appearance in Sale’s Premiership play-off loss to Bath on 1 June.
After the surgery, the 25-year-old had to learn how to walk and run amid a warning from Sharks boss Alex Sanderson that if he was to be in action this summer it would “put a halt to the back games of his career – for sure”.
England have withdrawn concerns over the inclusion of Maro Itoje and Tom Curry.
But Borthwick insists the all-action flanker is cleared to take on the Brave Blossoms and All Blacks.
“First of all, Tom is a world-class player. Anyone who watched the semi-final against Bath saw the impact he had when he came off the bench,” said Borthwick.
England have withdrawn concerns over the inclusion of Maro Itoje and Tom Curry.
“Every report from Sale and England’s medical and S&C (strength and conditioning) team says Tom is very good and I saw how upset he was in camp last week. The welfare of the players is important to us.
“The conversation I had with Tom was the most important. He is desperate to be part of this England team and wants to play in these games.
“Because of that and because he’s world class, it was a very straightforward decision.”
Unlike Etoose, Saracens are locked in just 102 minutes of the 2,400-minute seasonal limit imposed on each player under a welfare initiative agreed by the Rugby Players’ Association, the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby.
“There are many factors to consider. Obviously game minutes and game involvement are a couple of measures,” Borthwick said.
England have withdrawn concerns over the inclusion of Maro Itoje and Tom Curry.
“There are also factors around the training volume, training load and recovery period of the players. Most important is the conversation with the player himself.
“Another reason is to consider what the players have in this series. Maro Itoje has a 10-week period where he will not be involved in pre-season games at club level.
“Maro Itoje is like Tom Curry – ‘I want to play, I’m desperate to play’. He’s an important leader for us, an exceptional player and he wants to be part of this team for this series.”
George Ford withdrew from the tour in 2022 after a recurrence of an Achilles injury, setting up a direct shoot-out between fly-half Finn Smith and Marcus Smith.
England have withdrawn concerns over the inclusion of Maro Itoje and Tom Curry.
Borthwick opted to have just two playmakers to wear the number 10 jersey alongside George Farbank and Henry Slade as well as Charlie Atkinson.
“Finn has improved in a relatively short time with consistent performances for Northampton, marshalling his team around the pitch in hard-fought games. He was fantastic,” Borthwick said.
“Marcus is an experienced international. It’s great to have two such players at our disposal and I’m looking forward to working with them this summer.
England have withdrawn concerns over the inclusion of Maro Itoje and Tom Curry.
“I’ve started George Ford in five games in the Six Nations so obviously there’s an opportunity for one of them to really take over this team and take it forward, while being supported by the other fly-half.
“Marcus is a 10 that can play 15. It gives us the ability to potentially create situations where Finn and Marcus are on the field together.”