Stuart Barnes blasts 'no presence' Tom Curry despite rave reviews
Rugby NewsThursday, 15 July 2021 at 10:20
Despite earning rave reviews from most of the media, controversial pundit Stuart Barnes has criticised the performance of Tom Curry last night.
Writing after the 17-13 loss to an international-strength South Africa A team on Wednesday evening, Barnes was super critical of the the England flanker.
"Curry is under pressure," wrote Barnes in his column for The Times.
"In the first half he had no presence at the breakdown, was not used at the lineout and lost the ball in the tackle.
"Hamish Watson has made a mighty start to the tour and may have the advantage by not playing last night.
"When the Lions managed front-foot ball early in the second half, Curry began to look the player England think he is."
Lions injury update: Dan Biggar, Liam Williams, Finn Russell…
#1. Dan Biggar (Ankle sprain)
The walking wounded Wales fly-half, who has been nursing a minor knee problem the entire tour, was ruled out of the game against South Africa A with a 'minor' ankle sprain.
“Dan’s got a minor ankle sprain which is not worth risking, so Owen comes in at 10,” said The British & Irish Lions Head Coach, Warren Gatland. He did not confirm whether Biggar would be available this weekend.
#2. Stuart Hogg (Leg injury)
The Scotland fullback has only made one appearance on the tour so far, skippering the tourists against the Sigma Lions, due to an ongoing leg injury. Hogg suffered a dead leg in training but Gatland revealed the speedster could return on Saturday against the Stormers after making a return to training on Wednesday.
#3. Robbie Henshaw (Hamstring strain)
Gatland has confirmed that Ireland centre should be good to go for Saturday against the Stormers. Henshaw hasn't played since the match against Japan at Murrayfield due to a hamstring strain.
#4. Finn Russell (Achilles tear)
The Scottish playmaker has been ruled out of the tourists’ three remaining warm-up matches due to the injury, and Gatland has flown England’s Marcus Smith out to South Africa as a precaution.
“It isn’t a strained achilles, there is a slight little wee tear in it so it is going to keep him out for the next couple of weeks," said Gatland
"We are going to try and see if we can rehab him. He is going to be in a boot for the next five days and when he comes out of that, he will have some more treatment and he will still continue to get treatment over the next five days and if he is making good progress then we will assess him going forward.
"If he is not there is a possibility that he may go home. It’s a wait-and-see situation.”
#5. Liam Williams (Concussion)
The fullback departed against South Africa after just a minute, courtesy of a monster his from Eben Etzebeth. Gatland revealed Williams had failed his HIA and is now a major doubt for the first test against the Springboks on July 24th.
Gatland confirmed "Liam will go through the HIA protocols in the next week."
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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