Tom Wood (born 3 November 1986) is a former English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player for

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

in the Aviva Premiership. Wood plays as flanker but can also play at number eight.

Club career

Wood, who was educated at the Woodlands School and Sports College, Coventry, made his debut for

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

against Bath in the opening round of the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership. Earlier in his career he spent some time in New Zealand and played for provincial team

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for glid ...

. Wood was on the losing side in the final of the 2007–08 European Challenge Cup. In January 2010, Wood agreed to join the

. Wood was awarded the 2011 Aviva Premiership Player of the Season award and was

shortlisted A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

by the Rugby Players' Association for their Players' Player of the Year award alongside

Chris Ashton Christopher John Ashton (born 29 March 1987) is an English rugby union and former rugby league player, and one of the few players who have represented England in both rugby codes. A wing or fullback, he joined Leicester Tigers of Premiersh ...

Chris Budgen Chris Budgen is a retired rugby player. He played for Bridgend RFC from 1999-2001 then played the majority of his professional career for Exeter Chiefs and Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership. He made his debut for Exeter on 30 September ...

, Nick Evans, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu and Thomas Waldrom and for their Young Player of the Year award alongside

Owen Farrell Owen Andrew Farrell (born 24 September 1991) is an English professional rugby union player, currently captain of Gallagher Premiership side Saracens. Farrell has played international rugby for England since 2012. Farrell is one of the top poi ...

Courtney Lawes Courtney Linford Lawes is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a second or back row for Northampton Saints in the Gallagher Premiership. He has made over 250 appearances for his club. Early life and education Lawes was born ...

Joe Marler Joseph William George Marler (born 7 July 1990) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a Rugby union positions#Prop, prop for Harlequin F.C., Harlequins in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership. He is also one of the hosts of T ...

Charlie Sharples Charlie Sharples (born 17 August 1989) is a former English rugby union footballer, who last played in the Aviva Premiership for Gloucester. He plays as a wing. Sharples was born in Hong Kong. As a former Gloucestershire district athlete, Sharpl ...

and

Manu Tuilagi Etuale Manusamoa Tuilagi (born 18 May 1991), known as Manu Tuilagi, is a rugby union player for Sale Sharks. He has played internationally for and the British & Irish Lions. Born in Fogapoa, Samoa, Tuilagi has five elder brothers who played fo ...

. Wood captained Saints to both the

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

and Aviva Premiership trophies as the side completed its double winning season, collecting both titles within eight days of each other. Named club captain for the 2016/17 season, Wood lead the side through a tough season which ended in Saints fighting to secure a final place in European Rugby Champions Cup for the 2017/18 season, despite beating Harlequins on the final day of the regular season. Despite their win, Saints had to continue their quest for top-tier European rugby and face Connacht Rugby in the European Champions Cup play-off semi-final. Beating Connacht convincingly, Saints turned their attentions to the play-off final and Stade Francais. Despite Wood receiving a red card in the proceedings, Saints went on to score a last minute try and secure the win and therefore the final place in the European Champions Cup for the following season.

International career

In January 2010, Wood made his debut for the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

, against Ireland A. Tom Wood made his debut for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in Cardiff in the opening game of the Six Nations, on 4 February 2011. He then played in the victories against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Wood was named in the 30-man squad for England in the Rugby World Cup later that year, but started only one game against Georgia. Upon Stuart Lancaster's appointment as interim Head Coach, speculation mounted that Wood might be named captain for the 2012 Six Nations. However, a foot injury saw him miss both the Six Nations and England's tour to South Africa in the summer. Wood returned to the side in the end-of-year internationals, starting fixtures against South Africa and New Zealand. His performance in England's 38–21 victory over New Zealand saw him named Man of the Match. The 2013 Six Nations saw Wood start at blindside flanker in the opening fixture against Scotland, but move to Number 8 for the remaining four fixtures following an injury to Ben Morgan. Wood was named captain for England's tour of Argentina in the summer, leading the side to a 2–0 series victory whilst playing in his usual position at blindside flanker. Wood was named to start for all three games in the following end-of-year internationals. The flanker played for England during the 2015

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

as the side dropped out of their home World Cup in the pool stages. Wood missed out on an England selection in the coming years but was re-called to the squad under Eddie Jones and helped the nation to end their losing streak against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in 2016 as well as hold onto their Six Nations title the following year while earning his 50th international cap.

Playing style

Wood is capable of playing across all three back row positions, but is typically used at blindside flanker for his country. His abrasive style of play sees him featuring heavily in defence, frequently putting in high tackle counts and helping slow opposition ball at breakdowns. His height and athleticism also sees him used frequently as a lineout jumper.

Retirement

Wood announced his retirement from professional rugby in June 2022.

References

External links

Northampton Saints profile

England profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Tom 1986 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Northampton Saints players Worcester Warriors players Rugby union players from Coventry Rugby union flankers North Otago rugby union players