Captain Tom Wood warns England with World Cup hopes on the line

Listen up: Tom Wood has spelt out the magnitude of the game to his squad
David Rogers/Getty Images
Chris Jones11 August 2015

Captain Tom Wood has told his players their World Cup dream could be over if they fail to perform in Saturday’s opening warm-up game with France.

Stuart Lancaster yesterday named a much changed side for the Twickenham match with Wood leading England in the absence of the rested Chris Robshaw.

However, the England head coach is set to revert to a more familiar line-up for the following week’s clash with France in Paris, meaning this will be the last chance for some of the players to impress before Lancaster names his final 31-man squad by August 31.

Saturday’s XV includes three new caps — Sam Burgess, who has to prove he can make the difficult transition from rugby league to union, flanker Calum Clark and centre Henry Slade.

Wood has urged everyone in the match-day squad to seize the opportunity and said: “For some people it is effectively a final and if you don’t play well you will be going home.

“It is up to those new guys to knock the door down. For Sam, in particular, it’s not a question of his pedigree, temperament or composure it is about are his instincts up to scratch at Test level in union. That is something he will, hopefully, answer positively on Saturday. He has been great in training. It is just proving a point on the field for him now.

“Hopefully, the fitness work we have been doing will be evident at the weekend. We will try and keep our power dry in terms of strike moves and fancy plays and it will be about getting into the intensity of Test match rugby.”

Wood made it clear that the six weeks of training — including a fortnight at altitude in Denver — has pushed the players to the limit. He said: “This is the best pre-season I’ve ever done and it’s been about taking you to your breaking point and allowing you to rebuild. It was absolute torture but sadistic because you enjoy it and there are no excuses.”

As World Cup hosts, England want to make Twickenham a fortress but Wood is adamant a slip up on Saturday would not seriously damage the impending campaign.

“It won’t make or break our tournament if we lose one game at home,” he said. “A good performance endorses all that we’ve been doing for the last six weeks. A game against France at Twickenham is a big deal on its own merit and we’ll give it everything.”

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