Sale Sharks kicked off their Premiership campaign with a hard-fought 12-11 victory over Harlequins at the Salford Community Stadium in a closely contested affair.
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England flanker Tom Curry, playing for Sale, was substituted at half-time after briefly returning to the field following a head injury assessment (HIA) during the first half.
Fans were worried following the initial collision with Curry appearing to be knocked out.
One fan wrote: “Tom Curry clearly unconscious after this collision.”
Progressive Rugby commented: “First weekend and already a HIA controversy. Tom Curry appears to lose consciousness after a tackle but given HIA and returns to the field. Protocol is to remove immediately and permanently if category 1 symptom is present.”
A surgeon added: “This should not have resulted in a HIA as he is clearly unconscious The fact that he passed an HIA is clearly a failure that the medical personnel have to answer do Get it right first time rugby – players lives are at risk,”
Sale head coach Alex Sanderson explained: “Tom passed his HIA, went back on, and then at half-time we reassessed him again. We were just being precautionary because we almost have to protect him from himself at times.”
Reflecting on the game, Sanderson added: “It wasn’t the most thrilling match, but it was a gritty, hard-fought win – and that’s what counts.
“We know we need to improve if we want to be contenders later in the season, but I think both teams would say the same. We had chances in the 22 and half-breaks that we didn’t finish.”
The current 36-man 2025 Lions squad, according to the bookies
The bolded players in our proposed Lions squad represent the starting XV.
BACK-THREE (6)
- Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland) – 1/16
- James Lowe (Ireland) – 1/8
- Hugo Keenan (Ireland) – 1/5
- Tommy Freeman (England) – 4/9
- Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (England) – 8/11
- Mack Hansen (Ireland) – 2/1
CENTRE (4)
- Bundee Aki (Ireland) – 1/5
- Ollie Lawrence (England) – 1/4
- Sione Tuipulotu (Scotland) – 2/7
- Robbie Henshaw (Ireland) – 8/11
FLY-HALVES (3)
- George Ford (England) – 1/10
- Marcus Smith (England) – 8/15
- Finn Russell (Scotland) – 8/11