Rugby World Cup 2019: Youngs says Curry has the ingredients to be an England great

Ben Youngs says the “unbelievably special” Tom Curry can go on to become one of England’s greatest back-rowers.

Curry has been outstanding in England’s run to the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup and the 21-year-old was named man of the match in the quarter-final hammering of Australia last weekend.

England scrum-half Youngs says there is plenty more to come from flanker Curry,  who has forged a formidable back-row pairing with the 23-year-old Sam Underhill.

“Being an older member of the squad, you see these young guys come in and you want them to be successful,” said Youngs.

“Tom is an unbelievably special player. He works incredibly hard and nothing seems to faze him. He’s in this bubble – and he’s just loving every moment of it.

“Things like that are infectious and I’m sure he’ll continue to grow and grow as a player. I’m sure he’ll go on to be one of the greatest back-rowers England have ever had, I’ve no doubt.

“Underhill, though he looks a lot older, isn’t too old himself. Both those guys, and the energy they bring – I’m just pleased and proud of them.”

Youngs said England know they have no margin for error when they attempt to dethrone New Zealand on Saturday, having missed out a victory over the All Blacks last year when Underhill’s late try was ruled out as Courtney Lawes was offside.

“[We learned] the importance of how error-free you have to be — and you saw that again at the weekend with Ireland [in the quarter-final] — a couple of Ireland mistakes and they [New Zealand] are down at the other end, scoring off the back of it,” the pivot said.

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