SIX NATIONS WALES v ENGLAND: COACHES ALWAYS like players who remind them of themselves. Martin Johnson grew up in the Midlands, went abroad to New Zealand to play rugby at a formative age and was rarely shy of hard graft.
It is possibly not the world’s greatest surprise that England’s manager has chosen the Coventry-born Tom Wood, the versatile Northampton forward who honed his skills in North Otago, for tomorrow night’s Six Nations opener in Cardiff.
Despite being the solitary new cap in England’s team to face Wales, the 24-year-old flanker is among the key figures in Johnson’s selected XV, which also includes James Haskell and Louis Deacon and will be led for the first time by Mike Tindall.
In the absence of the injured Tom Croft, Lewis Moody and Courtney Lawes, England need someone to soar in the lineout and get around the park and the DIY-loving Wood will not hang around meekly awaiting directions.
He and Haskell, earmarked for the number seven jersey, will probably divide up the flanking duties depending on circumstances but Wood’s athleticism is a definite plus. Previously with Worcester, he joined the Saints this season and, as his club captain Dylan Hartley noted approvingly, has “a bit of mongrel about him”.
The management have been impressed since the newcomer first attended squad training in the autumn. “His attitude was: ‘I’m not here to make the numbers up, I’m here to have a crack,’” recalled Johnson. The former England captain clearly views Wood as a chip off the old block.
Even the moment Johnson pulled the younger man aside in a gym in Portugal last week, having decided Hendre Fourie would miss too much training to be a serious contender, sounded like a collision of kindred souls. Wood paused only briefly to absorb the news before returning to his weights session. “We don’t go in for fancy conversations. He’s from Coventry, Tom,” quipped Johnson. “I said: ‘Do you fancy playing?’ He said: ‘Yeah, I do.’”
Ah, the romance of modern top-level sport.
Wood is not your average narrow-minded pro, having actively chosen to spend eight months in New Zealand to broaden his horizons. He played amateur rugby for North Otago and took a variety of jobs locally, from farm labouring to store manager in a department store in Oamaru. “I kind of wanted to break the mould, rather than just coming through the academy system and progressing into the first team.
“I wanted to be in the real world and play some rugby. I went out there a boy and came back ready for first-team rugby. I was Tom the Pom from the start; the abuse was coming from all angles.”
The move to Northampton has brought an increased maturity to his game, with the Saints having already beaten Cardiff Blues home and away this season. “I’ve played against Sam Warburton and Martyn Williams in the Heineken Cup so I’ve got a bit of experience. I’ve been on the front foot with the Northampton pack but for the last three years I’ve been on the back foot for Worcester so I also feel equipped to battle and graft. I’m confident I can hold my own.”
There seems to be a collective air of confidence around the England camp ahead of today’s transfer to Cardiff.
Johnson is not dwelling on his side’s ordinary away record and even dismissed the Millennium Stadium as just another “rectangle of grass you’ve got to play rugby on” which, decibel-wise, may be a shade optimistic.
Andy Powell will make his first appearance in the Six Nations since the day, nearly a year ago, when he commandeered a golf buggy from outside Wales’s base in the Vale of Glamorgan and set off down the M4 in search of breakfast. The Lions number eight was subsequently thrown out of the squad, charged with drink-driving and released by Cardiff Blues.
A career that had taken in enough clubs to fill a golf bag appeared to be over. Although he was chosen in the squad for Wales’s summer tour to New Zealand, he pulled out amid speculation that he was going to change codes and join the Crusaders.
He remained in rugby union and enrolled in the school for lost souls at Wasps where he has rediscovered his zest for the game.
James Hook has been named at fullback by Warren Gatland ahead of Lee Byrne while, as expected, Ospreys props Paul James and Craig Mitchell fill the vacancies created by injured Lions Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones.
GuardianService
