Ben Curry’s elevation to England’s starting back-row alongside his twin brother Tom is just reward for both his outstanding form for Sale Sharks and for a perseverance that has frayed at times.
Go back to 2017 and it was Ben who was named by England head coach Eddie Jones in the matchday squad to face the Barbarians, only to suffer a back spasm three days before the game. Tom took his place as a replacement, came on in the first half and duly won man of the match. “I was meant to be on the bench,” Ben told Telegraph Sport earlier this month. “I did all the training for the two weeks and we got beasted. It was trial by fire. I was 95kg wrestling Chris Robshaw who is 110-115kg. We were broken. Tom is the perfect example of taking your opportunity. His first 10 or so caps, he could easily have had a stinker and been written off.”
Instead Tom has gone on to win more than 50 England caps as well as going on a Lions tour while Ben, who was Gallagher Player of the Month for December, has largely had his nose pressed against the glass, making one start and five bench appearances over four years. His pride at his sibling’s success has been counterbalanced by a small pang of jealousy.
“Maybe at the start [I was jealous],” Ben said. “It has taken a lot of hours with the psychologist. He is on 50 caps now and I am on six but honestly I would not have it any other way. I would not say any of those have been handed to me. I am incredibly proud of that. It could have been very easy to go abroad, especially in the first few years. Fair play to people who do that, but I want to play for England. I don’t care how many times I do it, I just want to do it.
“It does test your mental strength and resilience. It is tough. I want to be part of a winning England team. There is one thing not being selected, but I always want to be part of that environment. Every time I go in there, I come out feeling like I have improved.
“There’s an unbelievable back row. I am self-aware enough to know it is tough to break into that. At the same time, if I am not in the team I want to be in the environment of helping the lads in a winning England team.”
Earlier this season, the 26-year-old had come to a realisation that he had fallen out of love with rugby. Being on the periphery of England selection was a frustrating affair, but there was no single reason that the Sale Sharks flanker had stopped enjoying the sport.
“Nothing is ever static in life,” Curry said. “You go through more enjoyable patches and sometimes you have to get your head down and graft. Maybe I was putting too much pressure on myself.
“It is a bit of a rubbish answer but usually there is not just one thing. It would be great if there was one thing you could just switch and your life is better again. It was the culmination of a few different things. Especially if you are a professional sportsman, it can engulf your life. Maybe if something isn’t going right and you are not getting selected, it can just take over your life. It can be very hard to park it when you go home.
“Most people have this issue and I probably got to that stage. Then I had the conversations of what’s the point of doing if I am going to be miserable all the time? It took a lot of trust from a lot of people but I am happier right now. I don’t think it is going to be like that for the rest of my career either.”
So Curry had meetings with Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson and defence coach Byron McGuigan. They told him to back himself and his decision-making. Slowly but surely, the enjoyment returned as his form picked up, delivering man of the match performances against Racing 92 and Bristol Bears and adding the Gallagher Player of the Month trophy to his mantlepiece.
“It’s always nice to win stuff isn’t it,” Curry said. “I feel like I am in a good place mentally and psychologically in terms of the rugby stuff. I feel pretty free going onto the pitch. It is a nice place to be in, to be honest.
“I think with that freedom you get engagement in the moment. You are not second guessing yourself. I am not doing this for someone else where I am going into a game thinking right this person wants me to play this way, this person wants me to play that way. I am playing what I am seeing in front of me. You are probably more engaged. I am fortunate that a lot of those decisions have been right. If a lot of those decisions had been wrong then I would probably have been dropped.”
