England's Curry a 'bully' who pushed me - Contepomi

Felipe Contepomi's Argentina narrowly lost to England after fighting their way back from 17-0 down

Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi called England flanker Tom Curry a "bully" who swore and pushed him in the tunnel at Allianz Stadium.

Steve Borthwick's side held on to beat the Pumas 27-23, with an on-pitch altercation breaking out between both sets of players at full-time.

The scuffle involved Curry, a second-half replacement, after it appeared the visitors were unhappy he injured full-back Juan Cruz Mallia with a late tackle, resulting in a penalty that was not referred to the television match official.

Mallia left the field late in the game with a suspected serious knee injury, which meant Contepomi's side ended the match a player down.

"I don't know where to start with it," Contepomi said of Curry's tackle on Mallia, who had kicked the ball clear before the contact.

"I am not a good English speaker but I would call it reckless. We ended up playing with 14, they ended up with 15 and it was not even checked out [by the match officials].

"And Curry, let me say, it is not only that because probably it is part of his nature to bully people. But he came off in the tunnel and he gave me a little smack. He is 27, strong. I am 48."

The Pumas head coach, who also said Curry used an expletive, clarified his remarks by saying: "Not a smack, a push, a hit here on the chest. So maybe it is his nature I don't know.

"I was standing there. He was coming to say 'hi' to one of our coaches [Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe], but Fernandez said 'no, no' because we were upset because he was reckless and broke our player's knee.

"When he came I said 'mate, you broke his knee', and he pushed me. Maybe that's the way he is. I don't know him. I'm not happy with the situation.

"After breaking someone's knee you need to be at least humble enough and respectful to say sorry I did something wrong. But he went the opposite.

"Maybe it's his way of being a bully. If we want bullies in this game, good on them. I know it's rugby, but if we don't look after each other in rugby, it could be dangerous."

England head coach Steve Borthwick said he was "unaware" of what happened in the tunnel, but that "post-game, on the pitch, emotions are always flying high".

On Curry's alleged actions, he said: "I think that anybody in this room who has had any contact with Tom Curry knows there's a character of a man. His character is impeccable. He's a fantastic team man, a very respectful guy.

"I think Tom Curry's character is unquestionable.

"I wouldn't want that, in any instance, to be the centre of attention of what was a tough, hard Test match where two teams really went at it for the afternoon and that's all I've got to say really about it."