Tom Curry urges Lions to make most of Australia tour after Argentina setback
Tom Curry has warned his British and Irish team-mates they can not afford to waste a moment in their search for respect as they target an immediate response to their defeat by Argentina.
The Lions arrived in Perth on Sunday smarting from the 28-24 loss at the Aviva Stadium that drew a scathing assessment from head coach Andy Farrell, who refused to blame the squad's lack of familiarity for the setback.
Western Force provide the first opportunity to make amends for the error-strewn opener and Curry, a tourist with the elite of British and Irish rugby in 2021, knows time is of the essence if the team are to be ready to face Australia.
'The thing with this sport and this tour is that it comes and goes so quickly. You've got to make the most of it,' the England flanker said.
'Every meeting and every session. Before you know it we'll be playing in Australia so we can't let moments pass us by.
'We speak a lot about respect with our own team-mates. We've only got six weeks together. Respect is so hard to earn but so easy to lose.
'It's really important that every session and meeting we turn up and push in the right direction.
'We have got to pull tighter, it's the only way. I feel like this group has taken so many steps off the field. I haven't got a bad word to say about anyone.'
Against Argentina the Lions showed ambition in attack and dominated at the scrum, but the vast number of handling errors, malfunctioning line-out and vulnerability in the air are areas of pressing concern.
Curry, who impressed outside of his own dropped passes, echoed Farrell's warning that a lack of time together must not be seen as a barrier to success on the tour.
'We've nipped that in the bud straight away. You can get to the sixth week and still make the same excuse. Six weeks is not a long time so we can't make that excuse the whole way through,' he said.
'We need to take personal responsibility for our own performances and how excited we get on the ball.
'On the flip side, it's really exciting because we got our hands on the ball and got into great spots. But come on, we need to take personal responsibility for the ball when we have it.'
Fin Smith made his Lions debut in Dublin and the England fly-half feels the need to rally as quickly as possible following the disappointment against Argentina.
'I'm sure it's not the first time the Lions have not played particularly well in their first outing,' Smith said.
'The main thing is how quickly we can respond and how quickly we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to get back on the training pitch and get better as quickly as possible.
'No moping about, no sulking. We need to get back on the horse straight away and have conversations that are going to make us better. That's definitely the aim.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
25 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Premier League questions Chelsea over ‘unauthorised ticket seller' co-owned by Todd Boehly
The Premier League has demanded answers from Chelsea over the 'unauthorised' reselling of Premier League tickets by a website co-owned by Todd Boehly. In an open letter, the Chelsea Supporters' Trust requested in March that the English top tier act 'swiftly' in investigating club chairman Boehly's involvement in Vivid Seats. Richard Masters, the league's chief executive, has now confirmed at a Football Supporters' Association event that the competition had written to the club. According to minutes of the recent FSA event, Masters 'confirmed the PL [Premier League] had written to Chelsea to seek clarification on the club's position with the matter ongoing. RM [Masters] advised the PL would reply to CST [Chelsea Supporters' Trust] once the PL had concluded its discussions with the club.' Telegraph Sport first reported in February how Vivid Seats, a US-based online marketplace of which Boehly is both an investor and director, was allowing foreign-based users to buy and sell Premier League tickets for up to tens of thousands of pounds. Boehly has not been accused of any wrongdoing. CST had asked the league to 'act and investigate' the situation which they believe is both a 'breach of trust' and 'a clear conflict of interest'. The trust has also submitted evidence against the American company to the Government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). Chelsea recently pledged to take action on ticket touting but did not name Vivid Seats or other ticket resellers. Vivid does not allow fans based in Britain to buy or sell tickets – the latter of which would be illegal – but its business model does raise the prospect of Chelsea co-owner Boehly profiting from the kind of activity his own club have repeatedly denounced. The CST wrote in its March letter to Masters: 'We have received a significant amount of correspondence from concerned CST members and supporters from the wider Chelsea FC fan base on this issue that cannot be ignored.' Boehly has not commented but Vivid Seats previously said in a statement: 'As a global business, we are always respectful and cognisant of local regulatory policies and procedures that are in place in any market to ensure we are compliant. As such, our policy restricts the sale of EPL tickets from UK sellers. We can confirm that we do not have any UK sellers listing EPL inventory on our marketplace. Additionally, Vivid Seats does not and has never directly marketed or advertised Premier League tickets to UK customers.' Boehly, a director and investor in Vivid, described as an 'unauthorised ticket seller' by the league, also owns a 13 per cent stake in Chelsea.
The Sun
39 minutes ago
- The Sun
Legendary BBC and ITV commentator retires after glittering 48-year career as sporting icons say goodbye
ICONIC broadcaster Steve Ryder is hanging up his mic after 48 years. The 75-year-old worked at both ITV and the BBC during his nearly five-decade career. 3 3 3 Ryder signed off for the final time on Sunday at the British Touring Car Championship from Oulton Park. He bid farewell to broadcasting after the race weekend, which was shown live on ITV4. A host of drivers from the past and present recorded messages for Ryder. The two-minute montage featured a host of famous names from the world of F1. Lando Norris, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jenson Button and David Coulthard all contributed to the emotional goodbye. Ryder is best known for hosting the BBC sports show Grandstand. He also fronted coverage of rugby, golf, motorsports and rowing for the Beeb, as well as Sports Personality of the Year. Ryder left the BBC in 2005 to join ITV, where he has since taken charge of their F1 coverage and World Cup broadcasts. Speaking about his decision to retire, he told The Mail: "The biggest emotion as you get into the last two minutes of something like that is, 'For God's sake, don't c**k it up!' "Because you'd be thinking about that for the next 20 years. Lando Norris punished by F1 bosses with five-second penalty after being snitched on by rival Max Verstappen "I've probably outstayed my welcome. I've been hugely lucky with the places that the career has taken me. "But it's close to 50 years now, so the cracks are showing." Ryder was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2023. He underwent emergency surgery, which successfully prevented the tumour from spreading. He told BBC Breakfast: "They took one look and said, 'We're going to operate in two weeks'. "No messing around. We did Brands Hatch for ITV on the Sunday and I had the operation on the Thursday. "So it slotted into the schedule quite nicely!"
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Garnacho posts picture wearing Aston Villa shirt
Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho has shown his support for team-mate Marcus Rashford by posing in his Aston Villa shirt on holiday. The Argentine posted a picture on his social media on Sunday night of himself wearing Villa's claret & blue home kit with 'Rashford 9' on the who has two years to run on his United deal, commented: "My brother" on Garnacho's post and accompanied it with a love heart England international joined Villa on a six-month loan deal in January after being frozen out at Old Trafford by manager Ruben have told BBC Sport that Garnacho's post is merely a supportive one of his team-mate. Nevertheless, Garnacho's future at Old Trafford remains up in the air after Amorim told the 20-year-old in May that he can find a new club this winger angered Amorim with his comments in the aftermath of United's 1-0 Europa League final defeat to Tottenham, which he started on the after the match, the attacker said: "Up until the final I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don't know."The final will influence [my decision] but the whole season, the situation of the club. I'm going to try to enjoy the summer and see what happens afterwards."Like Garnacho, Rashford's future is likely to be away from Old 27-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to La Liga club Barcelona and he recently said he would like to play with Spanish winger Lamine Yamal."Yes, for sure, Everyone wants to play with the best. Hopefully... we'll see," Rashford told Spanish influencer Javi Ruiz. "[It is] difficult to put into words what he is doing. He is not supposed to be doing that at 16-17 [years of age]. We have not seen that before. It is a skill to be able to play at that age with that mentality." 'Rashford and Garnacho are kindred spirits' Garnacho and Rashford are kindred spirits in a are hugely talented players who have been deemed surplus to requirements by Amorim and the belief is the initial post – and response – are a way of offering public support in a period of time where they are both looking for other are admirers of Garnacho but it remains to be seen whether their pursuit of Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund closes off that avenue out of Old are rumours of the 20-year-old returning to his former club Atletico Madrid this summer and there will be other Garnacho's post does not come without what effect will it have on the fee United can command for a player who has made such a provocative gesture?Secondly, it hardly seems plausible Amorim will bring Garnacho back into the first-team fold when his squad return to training in July, let alone consider him for the three-match trip to the United States at the end of the month.
