Argentina’s head coach, Felipe Contepomi, labeled Tom Curry as a “bully” and accused the England flanker of pushing him during a heated confrontation in the tunnel after Sunday’s 27-23 defeat at Allianz Stadium.
The Pumas were angered by Curry’s tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia in the 75th minute, which led to Mallia leaving the field with a suspected ACL knee injury, leaving Argentina with 14 men for the remainder of the match.
Curry’s tackle resulted in a penalty but was not reviewed by the television match official. Contepomi left the coaching box to protest the challenge, triggering a scuffle between the teams that culminated in the altercation between Contepomi and Curry in the tunnel.
Describing the incident, Contepomi stated, “Curry, let me say, it is probably part of his nature to bully people. He came into the tunnel and he gave me a little smack. He is 27, strong. I am 48.”
Contepomi added, “When he came I said ‘mate, you broke his knee,’ he said ‘f*** off’ and pushed me. Maybe that’s the way he is. I’m not happy with the situation.”
England’s head coach, Steve Borthwick, defended Curry’s character, emphasizing that Curry is a respectful team player. Borthwick stated that he was unaware of the details of the tunnel incident as he was in the changing room at the time.
England secured their 11th victory in a clean sweep of victories this month, withstanding a late fightback from Argentina in a hard-fought Test match.
Borthwick commented, “It was a tough arm wrestle of a Test match against an Argentina team who kicked it as far as they could or contestable. The players found a way.”
He continued, “The team is developing, the way we said it would. There’s plenty of work still to be done, there’s plenty to improve upon. We’re excited about the potential of the team moving forward.”