Tom Curry on verge of return – thanks to the help of Man Utd’s anti-gravity treadmill

Tom Curry hasn’t played since England’s third-place play-off against Argentina at last year’s World Cup – Getty Images/Julian Finney

Tom Curry could make a surprise return from hip surgery for Sale Sharks’ Premiership run-in after undergoing anti-gravity rehabilitation at Manchester United.

The 25-year-old England back-rower has not played since the third-place play-off of last year’s World Cup against Argentina in October. A month after that game in Paris, it was announced that Curry required an operation to aid a degenerative hip condition. Initially, it was forecast that the procedure would end his season.

However, Alex Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby, revealed that Curry joined in with his squad’s “high-intensity” training on Monday ahead of their crucial outing against Leicester Tigers on Friday evening.

“He did his first high-intensity session with us today and got through it well,” said Sanderson. “He is communicating and driving standards really well. We don’t know how he is going to get through the week, but we will have a better idea on Thursday in terms of how his body is going.”

Curry’s bid to return to the pitch, which Sanderson said the Rugby Football Union “has been supplementing”, has featured trips to Loughborough and Bath to consult sprint specialists and biomechanics experts. Manchester United’s anti-gravity treadmill has also been enlisted.

“They have got a machine where you put massive cycling shorts on and you zip yourself into a ball and it pumps air in it alters the gravity you run at,” Sanderson explained. “You can run at 70 per cent of your weight, so he has been doing that and sprint training at Loughborough, working on his biomechanics.”

Curry’s return to the pitch ahead of schedule would be applauded by both Sale and England – PA/Mike Egerton

Currently in sixth place but only two points shy of the play-off places, Sale could make another Premiership semi-final by beating Leicester and then following that up with a win over Saracens in the last round of regular season fixtures. Topping data scores in training, Curry is evidently straining at the leash.

“I’m surprised at how well he is moving,” Sanderson admitted of Curry. “We vary it but we generally do blocks of four to six minutes on the really high-intensity days and that’s non-stop, with balls coming in [constantly].

“We measure [each player’s] metres per minute, accelerations, decelerations, all of that, on GPS. This was only one block on Friday, but [Curry] topped them all; and that’s someone who’s been out for as long as he has. He’s come back in great shape. His ability to back that up is what the question is.”

“He moves so well and talks so passionately. He’s a phenomenal athlete, an outstanding player. Provided his fitness is alright, he’s not that far away.”

Curry has made a habit of hitting the ground running following lay-offs, and Sanderson remarked that “it’s like he hasn’t had more than a couple of weeks off”.

“He’s done everything in his power to get back probably better than he was before,” Sanderson added. “And it looks like he is at this point in time, just from watching him move.”

Steve Borthwick is not short of back-row options for England’s summer schedule, which comprises a Test against Japan on June 22 before a two-game series in New Zealand in July. Whether or not the 50-cap Curry comes into contention, Sanderson was confident that his hip issue would not be damaged by a return to action in the coming weeks.

“No, that’s not the case, and we were clear on that from the start,” Sanderson said. “It’s a degenerative hip condition and he’s come through the first procedure. He’s done the least intrusive first operation, which is clearing up the ball. In time, he will need further operations to maintain his hop mobility.”

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