Curry has stem-cell therapy in bid to make World Cup

England flanker Tom Curry will miss Sale’s Champions Cup clash with Racing 92 on Friday for a stem-cell procedure on his chronic hip condition.

Curry missed the bulk of last season as he underwent career-saving surgery, but recovered to make the summer tour of New Zealand and the November internationals.

Sale boss Alex Sanderson says the latest procedure is part of managing the 26-year-old with a long-term view to making the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

“He’s having a stem cell procedure, which isn’t a cure, it’s like a medicine really,” Sanderson explained to BBC Sport.

“It’s to help the bone growth of his previous operation; injecting stem cells into his hip.

“It’s a week completely doing nothing while the bone grows, and then he is back to running.”

Stem cells can help repair damaged bodily tissue, although it is a relatively new form of treatment.

Sanderson expects Curry to be back available around Christmas, and says he sought input from England head coach Steve Borthwick when mapping out how to manage the player for the rest of the campaign.

“We put a little bit of a plan together, of which the stem-cell procedure is a part of it, then looked at the rest of the season,” Sanderson said.

“Steve Borthwick looked [at the plan] and is 100% behind it. We want to get him to the World Cup without having another operation.”

An England player has a 30-game season limit, but given Curry’s injury history and his robust style of play, Sanderson says he won’t look to push him anyway near that maximum.

“He’ll feature in around 23 games, and 16 of those will be for us,” he added.

“And the rest internationals. So we have figured all that out so we don’t push him to that 30-game max.

“The consideration is he has a chronic injury which he is managing really well, but the more he plays the less shelf-life he has.

“We generally go by the principle it’s going to be three games on one off, or two on one off. I don’t think it’s wise [to push his game number to 30].”

Curry started England’s autumn matches with New Zealand and Australia, but was knocked unconscious against the Wallabies, meaning he was unavailable for the visit of world champions South Africa.

However he returned to start the victory over Japan, a selection that was widely questioned.

When asked whether he was happy with Curry being picked to face the Blossoms, Sanderson said: “Personally for me, no, because I care about him.

“But only in the same way his brother was [concerned about him], and his parents. If there was a chance, you wouldn’t even take it, with someone’s brain.

“But I have full faith in the doctors and the specialists who said he was good to go. At that point he is England’s player.”