You have to feel sorry for...Ben Curry

Pleased as I am that Tom Curry will skipper England against the Scots this weekend (I would have preferred Maro Itoje, but that’s no slur on Curry’s ability or potential), the man I feel sorry for is his twin brother, Ben.

Ben, you may remember, was called up to the England squad in May 2017 to play the Barbarians and was selected to start ahead of his brother. Injury intervened, however, and he was replaced in the starting XV by Tom who was not only named Man of the Match against the BaaBaas, but also went on to win his first two caps on tour to Argentina the following month, be capped 35 times (so far) for England, play in a World Cup final, start all three tests against South Africa last year for the Lions and has now been selected to lead his country in the opening match of the 2022 Six Nations at Murrayfield, in doing so becoming England’s youngest captain since 1988.

As for Ben, apart from one England appearance off the bench against the USA last July, he has barely had a sniff of an opportunity at international level – despite being, in my humble opinion, a fabulously consistent open side flanker who never fails to put in top notch performances for Sale Sharks.

In reality there is hardly anything to choose between Tom and Ben Curry as players. Yes, they do play the same position, but for Ben to have rarely featured even in the wider England squad over the past few years is somewhat baffling.

I’m sure that Ben is very proud of and happy for his twin brother – but it would only be natural if a part of him was thinking: “it could have been me.”

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was