Los Pumas head coach Felipe Contepomi has accused Tom Curry of shoving him in the tunnel after England’s 27-23 victory over Argentina.
The legendary fly-half was fuming in the post-match press conference and on the sidelines in the latter stages of the match after his full-back, Juan Cruz Mallia, was forced off the field injured.
The Toulouse star was hit late by Curry after he kicked the ball upfield, with the collision injuring the player’s knee, meaning Argentina had to play the final knockings down to 14 men.
Curry was penalised for the late hit, but was issued with no further sanction, which left Contepomi irate in the aftermath as his team fell agonisingly close to a come-from-behind victory.
Rodrigo Isgro’s try shortly before the 80-minute mark gave Los Pumas one final shot at a win after Mallia was helped off the pitch, but Ben Earl dived on a loose ball with time up on the clock to seal the win for the hosts.
Curry’s tackle
A journalist asked Contepomi about Curry’s tackle in the post-match press conference, with the Pumas legend snapping back, “What did you make of that?”
The reporter pressed again, and he replied: “Well, I don’t know where to start with it. I’m not sure if I’d call it reckless. What did you make of it?”
“Slightly late?” he said.
Taken back, Contepomi continued: “Slightly late? Ok but two weeks ago, we had a decision that it was deemed because of the consequence, so if that’s the criteria, I can’t understand that we must then play the rest of the game with 14 players after a ‘slightly late’ tackle like you described, I’d call it reckless – I’m not English speaking but I’d call it reckless.
“We ended up playing with 14, we ended up playing with 15, and it wasn’t even checked.”
The head coach was also annoyed about the HIAs that had to be conducted during the match, with one player erroneously clapping with the mouthguard that tracks the collisions, triggering the need for a test.
He admits that was the player’s doing but bemoaned that Pablo Matera had to undergo an HIA after a high tackle that was not checked by the officials.
“This wonderful mouthguard technology… We had three HIAs, one was a misusage by one of our players – that was 100% his fault – but Matera had to come off because it was a head contact and it wasn’t checked,” he said.
“So, what are we using this technology for? I think it’s a misuse or abuse; it’s not great, but I don’t understand where it goes.”
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Tunnel bust-up
After the final whistle, there was a bit of scuffle between the England and Argentina players, with the broadcasting camera showing Curry being the first player to leave the pitch, with his teammates sprinting down the tunnel soon after.
It was clear that the Pumas’ players were annoyed about Curry’s actions, and Contepomi was also fuming, particularly after the England flanker shoved him in the tunnel.
“It was not only the tackle by Curry because it’s probably part of his nature to bully people; he came into the tunnel, and he gave me a shove on the chest,” he explained.
“Maybe that’s just in his nature, I don’t know, but those are the guys whom we are rewarding and praising – maybe that’s where we want rugby to go.
“I was standing there, and he came in and went to say hi to one of our coaches, and we said no because we were upset. He was reckless and broke our player’s knee. I know it’s part of rugby, but if we don’t look after each other in rugby, it could be dangerous.
“When he came there, I said, ‘Man, you broke our player’s knee’, he said, ‘Oh f–k off’ and pushed me like that.
“I don’t know him, but I’m not happy with the situation. After breaking someone’s knee, you have to be humble enough and respectful to say ‘I did something wrong and sorry’, but we went the opposite way.
“Maybe that’s his way of being a bully. Now, if they want bullies in this game, good for them.”