Curry twins: Ben and Tom on their rise to starting for England in Six Nations
2025-01-29
Category: sports

Men's Six Nations: Ireland v EnglandVenue: Aviva Stadium Date: Saturday, 1 February Kick-off: 16:45 GMTCoverage: Listen live on BBC Radio 5 Live; text commentary and highlights on BBC Sport website and app; watch on ITV1.
The career arc of twins Tom and Ben Curry started as they both appear â identical.Both played at flanker, broke into the Sale team in 2016-17, won the Under-20 Six Nations, and were selected by Eddie Jones for England's summer tour of Argentina at the end of their first season of professional rugby.Still only 18, it was not just their appearance that made knowing who was who difficult, but their performances on the pitch."It is not a joke - I just tell the coaches to bring me one of those Curries," former Sale head coach Steve Diamond said in 2017. "He then tells us who he is."Injury prevented Ben, who captained Tom at under-20 level earlier that year and is the older brother by 90 minutes, from making his England debut that summer.Tom stole the march on his brother to become the youngest England starter in more than 90 years against Argentina, after being named player of the match against the Barbarians â a game that Ben had been picked to start before giving up his spot to Tom because of a back injury.Back then, it felt a matter of time before both would play together for their country.Eight years later, in their ninth season of professional rugby together, they are finally set to make history as the first twin brothers to start a Test match together for England.Both have been named in the starting line-up for England's Six Nations opener against Ireland on Saturday.
'We don't cook or eat together'
Growing up, the brothers competed in all types of sports, including rugby, athletics, cricket and football.But it was at indoor bowls where Tom first got the upper hand on Ben, something he still reminds his identical twin about."In primary school, we had indoor bowls and I weirdly turned out to be really good at it," he told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast."I was champion within my school. It was one of my favourite trophies, it was massive."Sport is in the Curry blood. Their mother is a PE teacher, their father played rugby for Rosslyn Park when they were in England's top flight and coached the twins from the age of four, while their uncle John Olver was a Northampton Saints and England hooker.And they are not the only internationals in the family, as their sister Charlotte represented Great Britain Under-17s at frisbee.At one stage, the twins had dreams of a professional football career for Manchester City but Tom says they ended when he headed the ball past his own goalkeeper during a game.In their early years of playing rugby, the brothers found themselves lining up in the backline together."It was Ben at 12 and I was at 10. I was a crash-ball 10 so the ball didn't get out," joked Tom."Tom then moved into the forwards first and somehow I got dragged in," added Ben.Having grown up together, they decided against going their separate ways at the first opportunity, and continue to live under the same roof at the age of 26.Not that they live identical lives around the house."When we go home it is every man for himself," Tom added. "We don't cook or eat together. We just do our own thing."
'I was thinking Tom has screwed this up'
Despite combining effectively at club level together, there was more bad luck when it came to aligning at international level.Following a speedy rise, Tom played in a World Cup final in 2019 at the age of 21, which his brother was allowed to watch after a social media campaign #GetBenToJapan helped him pluck up the courage to ask if he could miss Sale's game against Bristol to travel to Japan.Tom's combination with fellow flanker Sam Underhill was  a revelation during the tournament and resulted in Jones nicknaming the pair the "kamikaze kids".Strong Sale form led to Ben's first cap against the United States in 2021, while Tom was away playing three Tests in South Africa for the British and Irish Lions.Regular appearances in the 2023 Six Nations followed for Ben, who was enjoying a run in the England squad after his brother required hip surgery.
When last November came round, the opportunity to play together arrived again, only for Ben to replace Tom in the closing stages of England's defeat by New Zealand."Steve [Borthwick] came up to us before the game and said he wants to play us together. So I was thinking, class," Ben added."I see Tom 15 minutes in with his head down and he is trudging. I was thinking: He has screwed this up."Like in 2017, the brothers were made to wait, with Ben not featuring in the other three Autumn Nations Series games for England.This Saturday, with Underhill injured and Ollie Chessum perhaps lacking match fitness after knee surgery, Ben gets another shot to nail down England's number seven shirt."We have well-rounded skill sets that complement each other. It is not throwing out two people who are the same player," Tom added."We know each other and what we are about. That helps, but the ability to work off each other and do different roles like at six and seven, we are technically doing different things."Given how long they both had to wait, nothing will be taken for granted until the match kicks off in Dublin and history is made.