{"id":157768,"date":"2025-11-24T22:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T22:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/157768\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T22:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T22:31:09","slug":"england-asked-for-cctv-footage-of-tom-currys-alleged-tunnel-scuffle-with-felipe-contepomi-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/157768\/","title":{"rendered":"England asked for CCTV footage of Tom Curry\u2019s alleged tunnel scuffle with Felipe Contepomi \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

England<\/a> have been told to provide CCTV footage of the alleged tunnel bust-up between Tom Curry and Felipe Contepomi<\/a> after Argentina<\/a> lodged a formal complaint and demanded an investigation into the incident.<\/p>\n

It is understood that Six Nations Rugby \u2013 which organises the autumn Tests \u2013 has asked for England to provide footage as well as a formal statement before deciding whether to begin disciplinary proceedings. The English Rugby Football Union is also expected to provide any other relevant video captured of the incident.<\/p>\n

In an extraordinary press conference after England\u2019s 27-23 victory, Contepomi described Curry as a \u201cbully\u201d and accused the flanker of shoving him in the tunnel and telling him to \u201cf**k off\u201d. Contepomi also claimed Curry had \u201cbroken\u201d the knee of the Argentina fullback Juan Cruz Mall\u00eda with a \u201creckless\u201d tackle \u2013 an incident that seemed to spark the bad blood after the final whistle.<\/p>\n

The Argentina head coach said \u201cthere are probably cameras there\u201d and the Six Nations will wait to review the footage provided by England and assess their statement before determining whether further action is warranted. On Monday, Argentina also confirmed that Mall\u00eda has suffered a \u201ctraumatic\u201d torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee as a result of Curry\u2019s tackle.<\/p>\n

Argentina players were incensed with Curry \u2013 who was penalised for the tackle \u2013 and surrounded him on the pitch after the match. The bad feeling spilled over into the tunnel, with Contepomi saying: \u201cHe came off in the tunnel and he gave me a little smack. I\u2019m 48. [It was] not a smack, a push, a hit here on the chest. So maybe it is his nature, I don\u2019t know. Probably those are the guys we are rewarding and we praise. Maybe that\u2019s where we want rugby to go, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow old is he \u2013 27? He is strong and I am 48 and he comes and just shoves me. Luckily there are probably cameras there … Richard Hill was there so you can ask him. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was standing there [in the tunnel] and he was coming and wanted to say hi to one of our coaches but we said no because we were upset. He was reckless and broke our player\u2019s knee. I know it is rugby but if we don\u2019t look after each other in rugby, it could be dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was coming [into the tunnel] and [we] said: \u2018Mate, you broke his knee\u2019 and he said: \u2018F**k off,\u2019 and pushed me. Maybe that is the way he is, I don\u2019t know him. I am not happy with the situation. After breaking someone\u2019s knee, you need to be at least humble enough and respectful to say: \u2018Sorry, I did something wrong\u2019 but he went the opposite [way]. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it is his way of being a bully. If we want bullies in this game, good on them. It was a late, late tackle, or reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n

England have not publicly addressed the tunnel fracas but Steve Borthwick<\/a> was quick to come to the defence of Curry, who also found himself in the eye of a storm during the 2023 World Cup when he accused South Africa\u2019s Bongi Mbonambi of racially abusing him; the hooker was subsequently cleared by a World Rugby investigation.<\/p>\n

The England head coach said: \u201cI think that anybody in this room who has had any contact with Tom Curry knows there\u2019s a character of a man. His character is impeccable. He\u2019s a fantastic team man, a very respectful guy. I think Tom Curry\u2019s character is unquestionable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m unaware of what happened in the tunnel, but postgame, on the pitch, emotions are always flying high. You see that in almost every game, whether it\u2019s a Test match or club game, or even a national one. That\u2019s part of the past of rugby.\u201d \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England have been told to provide CCTV footage of the alleged tunnel bust-up between Tom Curry and Felipe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1453,59241,87996,61,60,112,57128],"class_list":{"0":"post-157768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-argentina-rugby","9":"tag-england-rugby","10":"tag-felipe-contepomi","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-steve-borthwick"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}