Northampton‘s Tom Wood, once considered the favourite to captain England through the Six Nations, is unlikely to take any part in the tournament. The 25-year-old flanker has only just removed the orthopaedic boot needed to protect a damaged toe and, according to the club’s director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, is at least two or three weeks away from playing.
According to Mallinder, there is still a risk that the big toe will require surgery, which might help to explain the decision by Stuart Lancaster, England’s interim coach, last week to name Chris Robshaw as captain for the entire tournament. Wood was initially expected to miss the trips to Edinburgh and Rome, but Mallinder’s update suggests limited progress. “Tom has the boot off his foot and has started training and I think it could still be another two to three weeks at least.
“He is slowly getting back in. I think if he comes back too soon there is a danger again that the foot will go again and we will be back to square one and maybe surgery. The physios have been cautious and the very best will be two to three weeks.”
However Mallinder had better news of Courtney Lawes, who on Saturday came through his second full 80 minutes since damaging a knee, putting in the kind of performance which, according to Mallinder, makes the second row a near certainty to be part of England’s match-day squad against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday – two days after his 23rd birthday.
With seven players away with England, Mallinder would be more than happy to keep Lawes at Franklin’s Gardens to help him through a difficult period in the Premiership, but the man who last week ruled himself out of applying for the England full-time post feels certain Lawes will not be around to face London Irish on Saturday. “I think we are really pleased that he has got through two 80 minutes. I reckon if he stays with us for another couple of games he will be close to match fit,” said Mallinder with more than a hint of hope in his voice, before sidestepping questioning about why he has backed out of the race for the England job.
One obvious answer is that there is still plenty of work to be done at Franklin’s Gardens if Northampton are to hang on to their play-off place during the remaining third of the league season. On Saturday they managed to keep Sale at arm’s length, but it was a bloodless affair, settled by the boot of Stephen Myler.
The fly-half chosen to “grind out a win” – Mallinder’s words, “workmanlike” was another – kicked seven out of eight penalties without Northampton ever looking like threatening the Sale line, despite the Sharks playing 20 minutes
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