All fired up

TOM Wood should be the standard-bearer for English rugby. The flanker ought to be captain of the national team. He should be starring for a club that have been the coming force in the English game for the past three years.

Instead, he sits in a marquee at the back of Northampton Saints’ Franklin’s Gardens and ponders exactly what he has done to deserve such luck.

The only thing that brings him comfort is a brutal black eye, proof that he is back playing the game he loves.