Tom Curryâs mum was reduced to tears when confronted by the sight of her son gushing blood from a wound on his forehead in Englandâs Six Nations rout of France.
The gruesome image of Curry playing with his face and jersey covered in blood evoked memories of Three Lions hardman Terry Butcher, who was similarly soaked during a World Cup qualifier against Sweden in 1989.
At 20-years-old, Curry would not be born for another nine years when the famous photo of Butcher was taken and the Sale openside had to be told who the England defender was by forwards coach Steve Borthwick.
It took six stitches to patch Curry up in the 44-8 victory at Twickenham and he returned to the fray with the greatest harm suffered by his mum Susanne.
âMy mumâs tears had dried up by the end I think. Mum was asking me on Tuesday night if my head was all right, but everything is fine,â Curry said.
England were fabulous in their rout of France.
âMy mumâs been trying to get me to wear a scrum cap for 20 years. Sheâs definitely pushing for it now. Everyone was actually surprised how small the cut was given how much blood there was.
âI thought I was just sweating, then it came up on the big screens and the whole crowd went: âOoohâ. It wasnât painful at all. It didnât even swell up.
âEveryone said I had to go off for a head injury but it really didnât hurt. I didnât realise and I think I just head-butted the full-back.
âIâve heard about Terry Butcher now. We spoke about him. But if I had been shown a picture I wouldnât have known that was Terry Butcher. Now Iâve seen the photo, I know.â
Curry has been magnificent in Englandâs triumphant start to the championship, producing two ferocious defensive shifts and proving effective as a carrier.
The nationâs long search to unearth a genuine openside is finally over and in typical fashion two have come along at once with rival Sam Underhill only absent from the squad because of an ankle injury.
To accelerate his development, Curry studies footage of greater players in the position in the search for tips while confident in his own strengths.
âIâm not a fan of just focusing on one person because obviously youâre your own person and have your different traits,â he said.
âMichael Hooper, David Pocock and Francois Louw is obviously up there. George Smithâs been a big one as well.
âI just look at everyoneâs individual games, taking little bits and forming almost like Frankenstein â you take bits that you might enjoy and push away stuff that you donât.
âSo thereâs definitely aspects that you can take but youâve got to realise whatâs good for you.â
England are assessing the fitness of loosehead prop Ellis Genge after he was forced to withdraw from training because of an ankle issue.