England give injury updates and it's not good news for Curry

England have had mixed news on the injury front with Tom Curry ruled out of the rest of the November internationals because of an ankle injury.

The 20-year-old flanker picked up the knock in the 12-11 win against the Springboks last Saturday and was forced off at start of the second half.

“Tom Curry is not available this week and he’ll be ruled out for the rest of the series as well," England forwards coach Steve Borthwick said.

“He injured his ankle but beyond that we don’t know how long, but for the next three Test matches he’ll be unavailable for us - everybody else is available for selection."

Curry has been England's starting 7 for the last four matches, and while Borthwick admits it's a loss, he's hoping that others will step up to the plate.

“He’s a fantastic young player, you saw that in the summer and you saw it at the weekend," added Borthwick.

“He’s got a really fantastic future ahead of him. It’s disappointing but whenever there’s an injury it is an opportunity for you as a player to improve and get better."

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There was better news on Courtney Lawes, who missed the weekend win over the Boks due to a back problem, but now appears to be in contention for the 23-man squad against the All Blacks, particularly with his versatility in mind.

But it appears that Sam Underhill is in the driving seat to come into the starting line-up in place of Curry.

“We’ve got a lot of options there. We’ve got a lot of versatility with Sam (Underhill), Mark Wilson and Zach Mercer. who has played all across the back row.

“Sam’s an excellent player, a real tough defender, he hits hard and he’s in great physical shape.

“We’ve got Courtney (Lawes) training fully and in that back five of the scrum, you saw Charlie Ewels come on at six at the weekend, so we’ve got a lot of good quality players back there."

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