Tom Wood injury presents question of inexperienced England back-row for Six Nations clash with Wales
England could be forced into fielding a rookie back-row during their Six Nations showdown with Wales after flanker Tom Wood missed training on Tuesday due to the shoulder injury he suffered against France.
Wood was last night retained in a 24-man squad for the clash at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday despite having his arm in a sling since the weekend.
Should Wood be ruled out, England may look to Jack Clifford of Harlequins to fill the void alongside Maro Itoje and Nathan Hughes – a trio who boast just four international caps between them in the back-row.
Wasps’ James Haskell is an option at openside flanker although he was limited to a 25-minute cameo against Les Bleus as he continues his recovery from a long-standing toe injury.
Head coach Eddie Jones was yesterday joined at England’s Pennyhill Park training base by national football team boss Gareth Southgate and Australia netball coach Lisa Alexander.
“We’ve had a brilliant day with Gareth and Lisa,” said Jones.
“As we’ve always stated, our aim is to get better every day and we want to get people into camp who have knowledge and great experience to learn from them. The staff shared a very interactive hour with them at a lunchtime meeting where we learnt a lot.”
England and Bath fly-half George Ford, meanwhile, is all but certain to rejoin Leicester Tigers at the end of the season, according to Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond, who was keen to lure the Oldham-born player back to the north west.
Diamond said: “We’ve not approached him as there is still some legal wrangling going on with Bath. It looks like Leicester have broken the bank for him, and a club their size has to do that.”