Tom Curry: 'Superhuman' Sale Sharks and England flanker to have wrist surgery after British and Irish Lions tour to Australia
By Rhys Jones
Published 13/05/2025 at 19:27 GMT+1
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Sale Sharks and England flanker Tom Curry will need to have surgery for a wrist ligament problem following the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson reassured supporters that Curry is able to play through the injury for now, and added that a minor hamstring injury he picked up will only make him a doubt for Sale's clash with Bristol Bears.
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England flanker Tom Curry will undergo surgery on his wrist following the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia this summer.
Curry could miss Sale Sharks' Gallagher Premiership match against Bristol Bears on Friday after sustaining a concerning hamstring injury in a 44-34 defeat to Leicester Tigers the day after he was named in the Lions squad.
Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson made it clear that Curry's hamstring issue was a minor one, but he revealed the forward would need surgery on a wrist ligament issue further down the line.
"He will need an operation at some point, but he’s clearly able to manage it and play through whatever pain he’s experiencing currently," Sanderson said.
"It’s not something that is stopping his game minutes or something that’s managing his training minutes either.
"He had to play and play through to see if he could, and if the risk was minimised, which the specialist was happy with, and the pain was manageable, which it clearly is for the superhuman that he is, then he’d put himself up for Lions selection."
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Sanderson added: "The alternative is he could have an operation now, and he’d probably miss the last run of games, and he might miss the first two games of the Lions, and that wasn’t a solution because the level of competition for his position was so high.
"He had to see if he could manage it. I’m really happy that he has been able to and continues to be able to."
Curry, who is set for his second Lions tour this summer, limped off in the first half against Leicester at Welford Road.
The match was a crucial one for both sides, with Leicester sitting second in the table and Sale in fourth as the play-off race heats up.
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Sanderson said that Curry's hamstring issue will only affect his availability for Friday's pivotal clash with third-placed Bristol.
"Tom’s injury is as good as we could have hoped for, given the fact that he’s really tough and he felt something, so when he says he feels something, you automatically think the worst.
"It’s a 1D on his hamstring, which is like the lowest grade you can have on a hamstring injury. It will not rule him out of anything other than maybe this weekend.
"He was one of five or six that were scanned over the weekend, and all of them have come back with positive scans, which is great for this weekend and hopefully for the finals."
Watch and stream the Gallagher Premiership on TNT Sports and discovery+
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