England vs Wales: Tom Wood to channel pain of 2013 Grand Slam in Twickenham showdown

Bad memories: Tom Wood was part of the team that had their Grand Slam hopes dashed by Wales
Chris Jones23 September 2015

Tom Wood is using the lingering hurt of the darkest day of his England career as motivation as he prepares to face Wales in Saturday’s World Cup clash at Twickenham.

Two years ago, Wood was in the team that arrived in Cardiff chasing Grand Slam glory, only to be battered in a 30-3 defeat that also cost him his place on the Lions tour to Australia.

What was billed as the moment Stuart Lancaster’s rebuilt England proved they were trophy material turned into a nightmare that Wood insists is still very much part of the squad psyche.

Wood, who has 38 caps, said: “On the back of that loss, we have earmarked this fixture because our pride was severely damaged that day.

“I don’t think we played that badly and were in the fight for 50 minutes, then the floodgates opened. A lot of us paid a heavy price — including Lions selection. We suffered that day and we don’t want to go through that again. It is something anyone who was there that day has never forgotten. It will live with us and, hopefully, inspire us.”

It may seem strange that Wood still refers to that loss after England opened this year’s Six Nations campaign with an impressive 21-16 win in Cardiff, despite travelling to Wales with a side hit hard by injury. The Northampton flanker acknowledges the confidence boost that win has provided but believes the defeat two years ago is still relevant.

“I hope we don’t forget that Cardiff defeat,”added Wood. “We have done pretty well home and away against Wales since then and we learned a lot that day not only about how to play rugby but about using emotion. We went into that 2013 game chasing the Grand Slam and they went into it in pretty mediocre form but they came together and were determined not to allow us to do the Slam in Cardiff.

Inside Pennyhill Park - England's Rugby World Cup base

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“Stuart has talked about what it means to be English and reconnect with that identity and use a sense of national pride to our advantage. I think that has stood us in good stead in this competition and we felt the weight of it on Friday and, hopefully, again this weekend.

“Our win in Cardiff this year fills us with confidence but it doesn’t work like that. If we are in the fight, we will back our fitness, shape and structure to break them down eventually. We are going to have to be switched on from minute one and I expect them to play a powerful game with a heavy back line and we will have to stop their momentum.”

England will be back in white shirts and change in the home dressing room, having lost the toss to Fiji, and Wood is happy with the change.“We like playing in white. We don’t want any gimmicky change kits or excuses to play in other colours. We are England and we play in white and are proud of that fact.

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