Tom Curry says England’s disrupted build-up to their clash with Ireland has seen them grow and become more resilient.
England face Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday and both sides must win to keep alive their hopes of winning this year’s Six Nations.
Eddie Jones’ side, however, have not had an ideal week and it began with Alex Dombrandt testing positive for Covid-19 last Friday.
He has returned to be on the bench for Saturday, but wing Louis Lynagh also tested positive on Monday and had to leave camp.
There were further disruptions with prop Kyle Sinckler missing training this week due to injury and Maro Itoje absent from the captain’s run on Friday after falling ill overnight. England are optimistic the Saracens lock will play against Ireland, but he is being assessed.
And to cap it off, England will be without their forwards coach, Richard Cockerill, on Saturday as he tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.
All of the other England players and staff members underwent daily lateral flow testing on Friday morning before training and returned negative results.
“It’s the normal now isn’t it! I think as a team, we are probably the best prepared in so far as abnormal things happening like that,” said Curry.
“Obviously, it’s not 100 per cent, but I think as a team we grow from that. People stepping in, people stepping up and taking control of those situations.
“It is what it is at the end of the day. As we have probably had in previous tournaments, we are developing that resilience. Whether that is practicing different combinations or being more player-driven with line-outs or set plays. It all feeds into that ability to be resilient.
“All that matters is that tomorrow come kick-off we are ready to go and we start fast.
“I think training has been good. We have learnt a lot about ourselves this week and how we want to be.
“I think that is brilliant leading into a Test match. It is never going to be perfect for 80 minutes and we have just got to make sure that we keep pushing and progressing throughout the game.
“I think that, in terms of levels where we are at as a team, that’s kind of a barometer for us and I think we are learning a lot.
“Tomorrow is no different and we are looking to put in a good performance as always. There is a real build of excitement, especially as this tournament progresses.
“Hopefully it all goes out in terms of 80 minutes on Saturday.”
