Tom Wood earns shock England lifeline – 10 months after coach Eddie Jones wrote him off as ‘distinctly average’
Northampton flanker back after 5 players are ruled out - but still recalls the 'blunt' assessment of the Red Rose coach
TOM WOOD has been given a shock England lifeline — ten months after being written off as “distinctly average“ by coach Eddie Jones.
It is a remarkable turnaround for the 42-cap flanker, but it still took FIVE players to be ruled out injured before Jones offered Wood a way back for the autumn Tests.
After becoming a casualty last January of Stuart Lancaster’s World Cup flop, Wood, 29, said: “Eddie was pretty blunt. He said that what he had seen from me hadn’t been good enough.
“He said it had been distinctly average — if I remember the exact phrase — and what he was looking for from his No 6 was world-class work-rate. And he didn’t see it in me.”
But after naming his 33-man squad for next month’s autumn internationals Jones denied ever using those exact words.
He said: “That isn’t something I’d say. He has obviously got a vivid memory!
“I might have said he had no standout parts of his game. The standout part of his game now is his work-rate. He has an incredible work-rate and he brings that to the table. I think he has gone back and looked at his game.
“Maybe he was comfortable, maybe he felt there was a sense of entitlement about him being in the England side.
“What I like about him is he has gone back and looked at himself and found ways to improve.
“He might be like Samson, he gets stronger with long hair and a beard! He’s now got a bit more dynamism to his ball-carrying which, previously, he didn’t have.”
Another player who has gone from zero to hero in Jones’ eyes is Wood’s Northampton team-mate Teimana Harrison — who will be given another chance when England train in Portugal next week.
He was hooked after just 31 minutes of England’s final Test in their series win over Australia this summer.
But the New Zealand-born back-row, 24, is now the front-runner to fill James Haskell’s vacant No 7 shirt.
Jones added: “In a Saints side that didn’t do so well last week that was the best performance I’ve seen from a No 7 in a Premiership team. Teimana’s elevated himself.”
Ex-Wallabies boss Jones has a Grand Slam and a series win in Australia under his belt.
But he is wary the honeymoon will be over if his side suffer a heavy defeat at HQ against South Africa on November 12.
He said: “If we lose against South Africa then I’ll probably be in the paper next day with a red nose on!”
Jones has named four players who have never featured in an England squad before — Nathan Hughes, Charlie Ewels, Alex Lozowski and Mike Haley.