Category: Rugby Union

• Tom Curry was stood down for 12 days after Australia loss
• ‘He’s gone through protocols, independent consultations’

The England head coach, Steve ­Borthwick, has defended his ­decision to pick Tom Curry for Sunday’s match against Japan two weeks after he sustained a second head injury inside two months, despite criticism from concussion campaigners.

Curry was knocked ­unconscious during England’s defeat by ­Australia earlier this month after a nasty ­collision with Rob Valetini and ­subjected to the 12-day stand-down period in line with World Rugby’s return-to-play protocols.

• Forward, 20, likely to start on the bench
• England looking for first win of autumn

The rookie prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour is in line for an England debut against Japan on Sunday, with Steve Borthwick expected to hand the 20-year-old a place on the bench.

Opoku-Fordjour was only called into Borthwick’s squad when Joe Marler announced his international retirement after the defeat by New Zealand earlier this month but caught the eye in last week’s England A victory over Australia at the Stoop. Prior to that match, Borthwick said, “I have been really positive about what I’ve seen from Asher,” and the Guardian understands that Opoku-Fordjour is in the frame for a place among the replacements on Sunday as Eddie Jones locks horns with his former employers at Twickenham for the first time.

Man who led English rugby’s governing body for 12 years is urging game to ‘wake up’ amid potential record losses

England have had some tough results on the field lately and things are about to get even gloomier off it. Next Monday the Rugby Football Union’s council members will be formally presented with the annual accounts for the 2023-24 financial year amid expectations of potential record losses at what was once the world’s wealthiest union.

Among those awaiting the figures with particular interest is Francis Baron, who spent 12 years as the RFU’s chief executive and was at the helm when England won their first – and only – men’s World Cup in 2003. Since leaving Twickenham, Baron has become increasingly concerned about the state of the union’s finances and is predicting “very bad news for the game” when the figures are unveiled.

• Curry back after head injury against Australia
• Feyi-Waboso ruled out of clash with Japan

England are making changes to Tom Curry’s all-action technique to ensure his safety after he returned to the fold for Sunday’s clash with Japan following his latest concussion.

Curry sat out last weekend’s defeat by South Africa after sustaining a head injury in a collision with Australia’s Rob Valetini in the previous week’s loss against the Wallabies. The 26-year-old, who missed almost all of last season with a debilitating hip injury that nearly forced him into retirement, has a history of head injuries and sustained a concussion in Sale’s opening match of the season against Harlequins.

• Centre given international debut by Eddie Jones in 2020
• Australian’s methods have been likened to a ‘dictatorship’

Ollie Lawrence has revealed he ­questioned why Eddie Jones was “on his case so much” when he was the England head coach but has since reached the conclusion the ­Australian’s home truths have been the making of him.

Lawrence won his first cap under Jones – who will face his former employers at Twickenham for the first time on Sunday when England host Japan – in 2020 but failed to make an impact on the international stage despite his fine form for Worcester.