England’s Tom Curry revealed he has walked his way back to fitness thanks to his pet dachshund – Toby.

The back row has been in blistering form in the Six Nations after a potentially career-ending hip operation and has had stem cell therapy on the joint.

Curry was staring down the barrel of retirement but bit of canine therapy, and changing the way he walks, in the hills around his Manchester base have done the trick.

The Sale man said: “I just make sure I am walking on my heels. I have got to swing my arms to help move my back. It is interesting.

“You can overthink it but it is a big part of it, the daily walking. My run in from Christmas was really good physically. It felt like I was finally playing with two hips.”

The 26-year-old is on managed recovery for the rest of his career part of which involves rarely training on the Monday after a game.

But he added: “I have to train. It is not about getting your feet up and resting. It is about doing the work and being smart about it.

“Steve Borthwick has really invested in my weekly schedule. That’s been a lot of weight off my shoulders.”