Argentina full-back Juan Cruz Mallia suffers a torn ACL due to Tom Curry's controversial late tackle - with England star's hit sparking an on-pitch scuffle and angry war of words

Argentina have confirmed Juan Cruz Mallia has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after being tackled by Tom Curry in an incident that caused England's successful autumn campaign to end in fiery controversy.

Steve Borthwick's side beat the Pumas 27-23 to extend their winning run to 11 matches and seal their first November clean sweep since 2017. But post-match, both sides were embroiled in an ugly Twickenham tunnel brawl.

The Pumas were furious with England flanker Curry for what they saw as a late tackle on Mallia who is now set to spend at least the next nine months on the sidelines. Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi described Curry's tackle as 'reckless'.

Contepomi also accused Curry of being a 'bully', pushing him in the tunnel and telling him to 'F*** off.'

Contepomi said of Curry: 'It is probably part of his nature to bully people.

'He came down the tunnel and gave me a push on the chest. He said: 'F*** off' and pushed me. I'm not happy with the situation. After breaking someone's knee, you need to be humble enough to say sorry, you did something wrong.

'But he went the opposite way.' 

Mallia was forced off injured due to Curry's hit, leaving the Pumas to play the final four minutes with 14 men. Despite that, Argentina came close to a famous comeback only to fall short at the death as England held on.

'He (Curry) went to say hi to one of our coaches,' Contepomi said.

'I was like: 'No.' We were upset. He was reckless and he broke our player.

'If we want bullies in this game, good on them.'

In a social media post confirming Toulouse ace Mallia's knee injury was as bad as Contepomi initially feared, Argentina said on Monday they wished their player a 'speedy recovery.'

The Mallia and Curry confrontation led to a spicy finale at Twickenham.

Post-match, tempers boiled over on the pitch, with Curry at the centre of Argentina's ire for his tackle.

Curry and his fellow England forward Henry Pollock were involved in a scuffle with Pumas players on the pitch. And that spilled over into the tunnel, with Contepomi claiming he clashed with Curry.

Sale back-row Curry was defended by his England set-up, unsurprisingly.

'I think that anybody who has had any contact with Tom knows his character is impeccable. He's a fantastic team man, a very respectful guy,' said his Coach Borthwick. 'I think Tom's character is unquestionable.'

England captain Maro Itoje added: 'I'm unaware of what happened in the tunnel, but post-game, on the pitch, emotions are always flying high. You see that in almost every game. That's part of rugby.'

England centre Henry Slade said of Curry: 'He is the furthest thing from a bully I have ever seen. He's such a genuine, genuine guy who cares a lot about everyone.

'He wears his heart on his sleeve. He's a very tough guy but I wouldn't say he's anywhere near being a bully at all. I'm sure his best interests were at heart when it was happening.'

England's in-house lawyer Richard Smith KC was seen at Twickenham in the wake of the Curry-Mallia incident post-match on Sunday night. Former England scrum-half Ben Youngs described Contepomi's attack on Curry as 'b*******.'

Speaking on his podcast For The Love Of Rugby, Youngs said: 'It (Curry's tackle) was late, but it wasn't dirty. He was committed. He didn't target a lower limb or anything like that. He's doing what every back-rower does: hound, chase, put pressure on.

'To be honest, what Contepomi has come out with, I just think it's a load of b*******.'