Wood ruled out for England

England’s back row resources have been stretched before they even depart for the World Cup after Tom Wood was forced to pull out of tomorrow’s final warm-up international against Ireland.

Wood, the Northampton flanker, has suffered what England manager Martin Johnson described as a “mild calf strain” and been replaced on the bench by Stade Francais lock Tom Palmer.

England opted for only five specialist loose forwards in their 30-man World Cup squad and are also without squad captain Lewis Moody, who is still recovering from a knee injury.

As a result, starting lock Courtney Lawes will provide the back row cover while England go into the game with two specialist second rows on the bench in Palmer and the veteran Simon Shaw.

“Tom wants to play and he’s annoyed that he’s not playing but where we are and where we are going, it’s the right call for him not to play,” said Johnson.

The revised England team to play Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, August 27 (kick-off 2.30pm):

B Foden (Northampton); C Ashton (Northampton), M Tuilagi (Leicester), M Tindall (Gloucester, capt), M Cueto (Sale); J Wilkinson (Toulon), R Wigglesworth (Saracens); A Sheridan (Sale), S Thompson (Wasps) D Cole (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), C Lawes (Northampton), T Croft (Leicester), J Haskell (Ricoh Black Rams), N Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), M Stevens (Saracens), S Shaw (Unattached), T Palmer (Stade Francais), J Simpson (Wasps), T Flood (Leicester), D Armitage (London Irish).