Tom Curry adamant ‘no excuses’ for England ahead of Australia match
Australia pick rugby league convert Suaalii for Saturday’s clash
London: Tom Curry insists England’s players must take responsibility for their repeated failure to close out winning positions and adopt a “no excuses” approach as they look to revive their fortunes against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.
England have lost their last three Tests — all against New Zealand — after squandering an advantage in the final quarter.
They also fell just short against France in their last match of the Six Nations and England now head into their game with the Wallabies having won just four of their nine Tests in 2024.
Last weekend they were eight points up late on against the All Blacks, only to suffer an agonising 24-22 loss at Twickenham.
Criticised for cautious approach
England coach Steve Borthwick was criticised for being overly cautious in taking off half-backs Ben Spencer and Marcus Smith with his side on top, but Curry said the players, not the staff, were to blame for this latest loss.
“We can’t be making excuses. As players we have to step up and be more consistent,” England flanker Curry insisted on Wednesday.
Find a way out
The 54-time capped back-row added: “Discipline-wise, we let ourselves down. At 40 minutes it was one penalty conceded, two penalties at 60 minutes and then at 80 minutes it had built up (to seven in total).
“If we solved this the whole time, sport would be easy. That’s the beauty of it — we have to find a way.
“There’s nothing coming externally that we haven’t heard. We’ve had all the right messages from the coaches. We as players need to step up. There are no excuses.”
‘Influence’
Australia too have struggled lately, losing five of their six matches in this year’s southern hemisphere Rugby Championship under former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt.
The New Zealander, who took charge after Eddie Jones oversaw a woeful 2023 World Cup campaign where the Wallabies crashed out in the pool stage, has just a handful of games in which to forge an Australia revival before next year’s three-Test series at home to the British and Lions.
This month, Australia will play further Tests against Wales, Scotland and Ireland, 40 years on from their celebrated 1984 Grand Slam, although the prospects of another clean sweep of the ‘Home Nations’ appear slim.
Replacements: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa, Lukhan Sa-lakaia-Loto, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Max Jorgensen
Coach: Joe Schmidt (NZL).
But Rugby Australia chief commercial officer James Durbin insisted on Wednesday that Schmidt was already “having an influence” on the team.
“In his words it is progress that he’s looking for, he’s not looking at ‘Ws’ (wins) and ‘Ls’ (losses) in his ledger at the moment,” added Durbin, speaking at the launch of the 2025 Lions shirt by Canterbury.
“It’s not looking at the four (November) matches and saying well we need to win three, we need to win four, we need to win two, it’s more about how we’re playing the game and ensure we continue to progress as we look ahead to July next year.”
Switching codes
Durbin, however, insisted: “We’re a proud nation of sporting fans and athletes and we don’t go onto the pitch to come second.”
Rugby league convert Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will make his Australia debut without having played a game of senior club rugby union. The 21-year-old has been selected at outside centre for the opening match of Australia’s tour of Britain and Ireland.
A standout schoolboy rugby union player, Suaalii elected to begin his professional career in rugby league with Sydney Roosters.
But he has now switched codes, following in the footsteps of former rugby league stars such as Israel Folau and Sonny Bill Williams, signing a multimillion dollar deal with Rugby Australia.
Suaalii is the only change to the starting XV from the side’s last Test — a 33-13 defeat by New Zealand in Wellington in September.