Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi labelled Tom Curry a “bully” on Sunday. He accused the England forward of shoving and swearing at him. This occurred during a tunnel bust-up following England’s 27-23 victory at Twickenham.
The Pumas expressed fury over Curry’s controversial 76th-minute tackle. Juan Cruz Mallia suffered a suspected anterior cruciate ligament knee injury. This came after a late hit by Curry on Mallia.
Mallia’s injury forced him from the field immediately. Argentina finished the match with only 14 men available.
“I don’t know where to start with it,” Contepomi said. The coach criticised the 27-year-old Curry’s challenge on Mallia. The tackle occurred just after Mallia executed his clearing kick.
“I am not a good English speaker,” Contepomi admitted. “However, I would call it reckless behaviour. We ended up playing with 14 players.”
“They finished with 15 players available,” he continued. “Match officials didn’t even check the incident properly.”
“Curry exhibits bullying behaviour,” Contepomi claimed. “This is probably part of his nature. He confronted me in the tunnel afterwards.”
“He gave me a little smack,” the 48-year-old coach alleged.
Contepomi later clarified his remarks for accuracy. “Not a smack exactly, but a push. He hit me here on the chest.”
“Maybe this behaviour reflects his true nature,” Contepomi suggested.
Reporters asked Contepomi for more details about the tunnel incident. “I was standing there when he approached,” he explained. “Curry wanted to speak with one of our coaches.”
“We refused because we felt upset about the situation. He had acted recklessly and broken our player’s knee.”
“I know this is rugby,” Contepomi acknowledged. “However, we must look after each other properly. Rugby becomes dangerous otherwise.”
“Curry approached and I said ‘mate you broke his knee’,” Contepomi recalled.
The Argentina coach described Curry’s reaction to the challenge. “He swore at me and then pushed me.”
“Maybe that reflects his true character,” Contepomi suggested. “I don’t know him personally.”
“I’m not happy with this situation at all,” he continued. “After breaking someone’s knee, you should show humility.”
“A respectful person would say ‘sorry I did something wrong’. However, he chose the opposite approach.”
“Maybe bullying represents his natural way of being,” Contepomi concluded.
England coach Steve Borthwick defended his Sale back-row player strongly. He addressed reporters about Curry’s character and reputation.
“Anyone who has had contact with him knows his true character. His character remains absolutely impeccable.”
“He’s a fantastic team man and very respectful guy. Tom Curry’s character is completely unquestionable.”
The former England captain added important context about post-match emotions. “I’m unaware of what happened in the tunnel specifically.”
“However, post-game emotions always run extremely high on the pitch,” Borthwick explained.
England’s victory marked their third over the Pumas this year. They had previously secured two Test wins in Argentina during July.
The win extended England’s winning streak to 11 consecutive victories.
“We’re two sides with huge mutual respect,” Borthwick stated. “We’ve played them three times this year already.”
“We know many of their players from the Premiership. All in all, it was a tough, hard Test match.”
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