Curry selection leaves RFU in a pickle

By Sam Peters

It’s 17 years since I sat in the press box at the Parc des Princes in Paris and watched England captain Lewis Moody knocked out twice in the same match but allowed to play on.

Afterwards, those of us who questioned the decision were swatted away with the usual platitudes that ‘player welfare was a priority’ and the players were ‘receiving the best medical care available’.

The fact that even back then in 2007,16 years after Michael Watson had almost died in the ring fighting Chris Eubank, Moody would have been counted out if he was a boxer seemed lost on most of us. The incident drew next to no public comment in the media.

It’s 11 years since I sat in the press box in the Olympic Stadium, Sydney, and watched Wallaby flanker George Smith suffer a brain injury in an accidental clash of heads with British & Irish Lions hooker Richard Hibbard, before being allowed to play on, having apparently passed the newly implemented five-minute Pitch Side Concussion Assessment.

At the time, the incident drew next to no comment from rugby’s travelling press pack. Despite my mounting concerns around player welfare at that time, even I did not include a line on it in my 1,000-word match report for the Mail on Sunday.

Because these incidents had become completely run of the mill. Such had been the rapid increase in size, power and commitment of professional rugby players in 18 years since it had turned professional in 1995, and the ensuing ferocity of the collisions, we had almost become immune to witnessing brain damaged players returning to the field. Playing on with brain damage had become rugby’s new normal.

And who were we, rugby hacks, to say it shouldn’t be so?

In August 2013, with evidence mounting about the connection between repetitive head trauma and a condition called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in deceased American Footballers, I wrote my first article on the subject in the Mail on Sunday headlined ‘Rugby’s Ticking Timebomb’.

In it, I quoted the RFU’s head of medicine Simon Kemp, the England team doctor when Moody played on against Tonga in 2007, stating:

‘We understand that there is no proven causal relationship between head injuries sustained while playing rugby union and the reported cases of CTE and early onset dementia.’

My strong sense, even then, as I assessed the mounting evidence around the world, was that this line would be a difficult one to hold.

Naively, I expected the article, which challenged the RFU’s position and highlighted the groundbreaking work of neuroscientists including Bob Cantu and Anne McKee in Boston, and Willie Stewart in Glasgow, to cause a major stir.

But at the time, very few picked up on the article. In rugby circles, several of my friends in the media thought I was crackers.

One friend, a highly respected rugby writer who remains a friend to this day, told me their sports desk editor at the time, a man I knew and respected, had told him; ‘Don’t touch concussion. It’s dull. A non story.’ So my friend did as they were told.

To be fair, almost everyone did. But times change.

Last week Tom Curry, a young man with a long history of concussions, including flying back from England’s 2022 tour to Australia because he was suffering such severe side effects, was picked to play in a meaningless friendly against Japan at Twickenham.

Nothing surprising there, but when you consider Curry had also been knocked unconscious twice inside two months, once just two weeks previously against Australia, then understandably questions were asked.

Including by me; ‘If he were a boxer, Curry would not be allowed near a ring.’ I tweeted.

‘I cannot understand why England have picked him. There is so little to gain (by his selection) but so much to lose.’

To be clear, there is no suggestion England flouted the rules, and I have no doubt Curry passed all the required tests he was required to take, but something felt very different about the reaction to his needless selection by head coach Steve Borthwick.

Eleven years ago since I wrote my first article to the sound of silence from my friends and colleagues, this time the voices in support of my position were bold, informed and unflinching.

Daniel Schofield, who as a young freelancer shared a byline with me on that original ‘Ticking Timebomb’ piece in 2013, but is now a senior rugby writer at the Telegraph, wrote ‘There is no justification for Steve Borthwick’s short-sighted and potentially damaging decision to select forward for Japan game’.

While the Times rugby correspondent Alex Lowe wrote described the ‘tone deaf’ selection decision which illustrated how ‘out of touch’ the RFU is with the grassroots game in England.

Meanwhile, social media was awash with criticism of the decision, with expert after expert lining up to denounce Curry’s selection and the Telegraph subsequently running a story suggested the RFU had sought to tone down the criticism through the use of AI software.

So, although I was aghast to see the 26-year-old Curry picked for a Test match which he so easily could have been rested for, I believe there are reasons to be positive about the resulting outcry.

Because it is abundantly clear to me that public opinion, and the view of the heartland of rugby union, has shifted profoundly when it comes to addressing concussion in the game we all love. We know the sport, at a professional level, is more dangerous now than it was 30 years ago. We know players suffer more concussions now than ever before, because the data tells us.

And finally, despite the odd knuckle dragger, the sport is waking up to the idea our players need looking after across the sport if it is to have a viable future.

All we need now is for the RFU to catch up. Fast.

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