Joe Marler rubbishes Tom Curry ‘bully’ claim that prompted rugby investigation

England great Joe Marler has rubbished claims that Tom Curry is a ‘bully’ after a tense win over Argentina.

Curry was a second-half replacement in the 27-23 autumn international fixture that ended in a full-time scuffle.

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His tackle on Pumas Juan Cruz Mallia triggered the scenes, with the full-back leaving injured so Argentina had to finish a man down.

Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi called the tackle ‘reckless’ and said Curry is a ‘bully’ claiming he was smacked by 27-year-old in the tunnel post-match.

It’s since emerged that Cruz Mallia sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury and will be sidelined for a length spell.

Meanwhile, Argentina have lodged an official complaint over the post-match scenes which will be investigated.

Yet Marler told talkSPORT it’s complete nonsense.

“As if Contepomi’s come out and called him a bully,” he told Breakfast. “Curry couldn’t be further from it.

“I reckon heat of the moment, Contepomi was just livid about losing the game and he’s come out, maybe it was the wrong word or wrong choice of words.

“I think Curry ran to apologise to the guy he’d hurt by accident, he hadn’t intentionally gone out to hurt him, so I completely disagree with Contepomi and his comment about Curry being a bully.

“He’s a good lad, he’s a world class player and he optimises what England are about, these young, tough, hard attitude that Steve’s [Borthwick] put in the squad.”

Marler’s take on England

Further complimenting what Borthwick has done to make the team competitive again, Marler sees England as one of the favourites for the 2026 Six Nations.

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“Four out of four, now they’ve got rid of all the old fogies and the young blood have come in they’ve just smashed it,” he said.

“It was an exciting game, especially those last five minutes, but that will do the team a world of good to find a way to win in tough circumstances and I’m excited to be an England fan going forward.

“Definitely [turned a corner], although, as we all know the England fans can be quite fickle, and unless we start getting a bit of silverware to show for the progress we’ve made then the pressure will come straight back on.”

Despite his excitement over England, Marler still sees one side ahead of the rest of the pack when it comes to the global game.

He added: “South Africa, what they did to Ireland last week, just destroyed them at scrum time.

“Then all around the park Rassie Erasmus [coach] just keeps changing the game, he’s an innovator and he keeps changing the squad.

“So they’re still number one in the world, if the World Cup was tomorrow they’d be favourites, but England are a close second for me at the minute.”

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Thankfully for England, South Africa aren’t in the Six Nations, so Marler instead is focused on France, and one man in particular.

“That will be massive for the French if [Antoine] Dupont comes back,” Marler said.

“He’s a game changer and England have got to play France away so, for me, it’s between England and France.

“England’s goal should be going into that last France game unbeaten, having beaten Ireland and Wales at home, and then go into that Grand Slam decider against France away.”