By MARK CASHMAN

If classy flyhalf Tom Curtis was to send a highlights reel back to the UK to underline the growth in his game over the past couple of weeks he could do worse than to email the good bits from the Western Sydney Two Blues win over Northern Suburbs last weekend.

The Two Blues pulled off the upset of round nine of the Shute Shield with a 34-33 victory over the Shoremen and the classy Curtis pulled the strings of what is becoming a very handy Two Blues side.

Let’s take you to around the 50th minute of what was a throbbing encounter at Eric Tweedale Stadium last weekend.

The 20-year-old Curtis is trying to run down a Norths attack down the left edge. He gets there just a couple of metres out, executes a perfect tackle, gets back to his feet and makes enough fuss at the breakdown that the ball spills out awkwardly.

Norths Brodie Leber gets his hand on the ball and Curtis hits him in the midriff and the ball goes forward.

That’s not the end of it though as Norths regroup at the scrum, pinch a tight head and some sloppy service sees the ball on the ground in midfield. Curtis swoops, puts the ball on the toe, regathers and in one of those snaking, catch me if you can runs and gets over the try line.

The match goes from “game on” to “advantage Two Blues” in just a couple of minutes.

Curtis is one of a handful of imports from the Sale club in England that have been plugging a few gaps for the Two Blues as they go about establishing their identity in 2022 under new coach Sailosi Tagicakibau.

They are now in the top eight and some good judges out there reckon that they will not only make the extended finals series in August but also cause some post season havoc.

Tagicakibau knew there were some holes to fill in their Shute Shield side at the start of the season and reached out of Sale Sharks academy boss Fergus Mulchrone. 

Mulchrome and Tagicakibau played together at London Irish so things took on a life of their own and in the end four other players – Joe Bedlow, Ethan Caine, Alex Groves and James Harper – have all joined Curtis.

The pandemic back in the UK had cut down the amount of game time that wider squad members at a professional club like Sale have been able to get and Curtis says he’s loving the vibe of Sydney and the Two Blues.

“The game we play in the UK is probably a bit more structured,” Curtis told Rugby News.

“Here it is a lot more flowing and the training that we do is lot faster. You are encouraged to take the opportunities when you see them which is great.

“I’m really enjoying the feel of the Shute Shield and there is a real schoolboy feel to game days here.

“By saying that I mean that the whole club comes together to support the first XV but the standard is first class.”

Curtis has already played for England at Under 20 level and looking at the family line big things are on the horizon if he’s hungry enough.

His father John Curtis was a professional footballer with several Premier League clubs including Manchester United, while step dad Dean Schofield was a professional rugby player at Sale Sharks as well as Toulon, Worcester Warriors and London Welsh.

He credits Schofield for introducing him to the sport and says his proudest moment was playing for England U18s against France in August 2018, during the Aon International Series in South Africa.

Curtis and the pack of (Sale) Sharks are hoping to leave the Two Blues in a better spot than when they arrived.

But if he was take any one of his teammates back to the north of England it would have to be his lock and on field bodyguard Manasa Rokosuka.

“He’s big and gets the whole team on the front foot and as a flyhalf that’s half the battle,” Curtis added.