Grounded Wood not set to take anything for granted

Tom Wood has warned England their five-star existence will count for nothing in Sunday’s World Cup encounter with a Georgia side ready to take them “down a peg or two”.

Wood is as grounded as they come in the England squad and he still approaches the game with the values he learned during a nine-month sabbatical playing club rugby in New Zealand.

The Northampton flanker was a product of the Worcester academy but wanted to experience rugby in the raw and so moved to North Otago for a season.

He worked full-time on a farm in Oamaru and then in a shop, playing rugby simply for the love of it.

Wood carries that same attitude with him now, which means he never falls into the trap of growing complacent in England’s luxurious surroundings.

The Georgians benefit from none of England’s facilities and they will be playing their second game in just four days – but Wood knows they will be fired up.

And England learned in their opening game against Argentina how tough life can be if they fail to match that fervour.

“It’s easy to become slightly snobbish when everything’s done for you and we are very well looked after. We’re very fortunate and that allows us to be at our best,” said Wood.

“But you can’t take that for granted. You have to use that to your advantage and make sure the hunger and everything else is still there.

“I personally try and hold that close to my heart. People always think about the advantages we have and the luxuries these players have, but at the end of the day it’s 15 players against 15 players on a square of grass.

“You’ve got to be willing to front up there on the pitch.

“A team that is perhaps limited in experience or limited in professionalism can go out there and make your life very difficult by being physical and getting in amongst it.

“That’s what you’ve got to deal with. It doesn’t matter whether you use a five-star bar of soap in the morning.”

Wood will make his World Cup debut against Georgia in a back row featuring England’s squad captain Lewis Moody, who has finally overcome a knee injury.

Martin Johnson’s line-up will be confirmed in the early hours but Toby Flood is set to replace Jonny Wilkinson at fly-half and he comes into the team with a point to prove.

Flood was England’s first choice for the Six Nations title-winning campaign but it was Wilkinson who was preferred for last weekend’s 13-9 victory over Argentina.

Even though Wilkinson missed five consecutive penalties and England struggled for momentum, Johnson kept a frustrated Flood rooted to the bench for the whole game.

“It was really frustrating not to be part of the first win. It is difficult but you take it on the chin,” said Flood.

“You can’t let it knock you. All I can do is go out there and try to prove that they are wrong on the selection decision they’re making.”

Mike Tindall, who captained England against Argentina and has found himself the target of a tabloid splash, is set to be replaced by Shontayne Hape at inside centre.

While England have enjoyed an eventful week in Queenstown, Georgia face the demanding prospect of a second match in four days having played Scotland on Wednesday.

The imbalanced fixture schedules which favour tier-one nations are a recurring problem at World Cups which the International Rugby Board cannot find a solution for. But Wood expects that adversity to make the Georgians even more dangerous.

“They’ll be playing on pure passion and adrenaline,” he said.

“They’re a proud team and I don’t think the four-day turnaround is going to affect them. “It’s going to make them more resilient and more focused. They’re battle-hardened for it and they’re a tough bunch of lads.

“Some of the lower-tier teams know they only have a couple of opportunities to scalp a big team and make a statement.

“I think it’s great for the competition.

“The gap’s closing between the top teams and the bottom teams.”