The Curry twins know how to make a first impression. A year ago, the pair turned up on loan at Sale FC for their first taste of contact training in men’s rugby.

Jonathan Keep, the Sale FC director of rugby, had seen a few youngsters arrive from the Sharks in his time but never before had he seen two 18 year-olds smash 30-year-old veterans around like ragdolls.

“It was not just their physicality that stood out, but their professionalism and even the feeling I got from their handshake,” Keep said. “There was something extraordinary about them.”

So Keep emailed a bookmaker trying to get odds on both Tom and Ben playing for England within two years and one for the Lions in 2021. The bookmaker wouldn’t open a market because they had never heard of them. “I wish I had found someone else to take that bet,” Keep says ruefully. As well he might.