Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi has accused England flanker Tom Curry of swearing at him and shoving him in the tunnel after their encounter at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
England held on to a narrow 27-23 win in London despite being under huge pressure in the final stages, and things boiled over after the final whistle with a brawl between the two sides.
The fracas carried on into the tunnel, where the England flanker allegedly “hit” the Pumas boss.
Contepomi made the revelation post-match when asked about the legality of Curry’s late tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia in the final minutes, which has caused a suspected ACL injury.
The former Argentina star did not hold back in labelling the British and Irish Lion a “bully”.
Match Summary
“Curry, let me say, it’s not only that because it’s probably part of his nature to bully people,” Contepomi said.
“He came off the in the tunnel and he gave me a little smack. I’m 48, he gave me a smack. I don’t know how you say it, a push?
“Maybe it’s his nature, I don’t know. But those are the guys we are rewarding and we praise, so maybe that’s where we want rugby to go, I don’t know.
“I don’t know how old he is, 27? I’m 48 and he comes and just hits. Luckily, there are probably cameras there, so I’ll show it and I’ll say. Maybe they’ll see it as nothing, no incident.
“I was standing there, he was coming in, he wanted to say hi to one of our coaches because we were upset. He was reckless and broke our player’s knee. I know it’s rugby, but if we don’t look after each other in rugby, it could be dangerous. When he came, I said, ‘man, you broke our player’s knee’. He said ‘f*** off’ and pushed me like that.
“Maybe that’s the way he is, I don’t know him. I don’t know him. Now, I would say, I’m not happy with the situation. They’re breaking someone’s knee, I think you need to be at least humble enough and respectful to say ‘sorry, I did something wrong’. But he went the opposite. So maybe it’s his way of being a bully? If we want bullies in this game, good on them.”
