'Tom Wood; future England Captain'

Jim Mallinder believes that Tom Wood can become the new England Captain, or alternatively Dylan Hartley. The interview highlights the fact that Wood was frustrated at the amount of playing time he saw during the WC.

What does everyone think? Will Wood make a good captain? Or does he need to cement his spot first?

Link to the interview and article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/15465481.stm

I'm a big fan of Tom Wood and i think he can be a big player for England.

I think he needs to cement his spot first before being given the role...although a certain Welsh captain aint doing to bad is he......

Im becoming more hesitant with Hartley...im not sure if he is the answer to hooker...and might be inclined to have a look at Gray / Webber etc.

Agree regarding Wood- for the life of me I can't understand why he wasn't given more game time during the WC. His playing style was desperately needed and he didn't feature enough.

Hartley's an odd one I think. Has the occasional great game, but then becomes anonymous for a long period of time. Definitely needs to show more consistency. Gray and Webber deserve a shot after Hartley's WC campaign.

Webber's lineout throwing is poor. If he was England's hooker we would get killed in the lineout.

With regards Wood, he deserves a shot at nailing down a shirt. If he can do that, then maybe think about him for the captaincy.

I think for a country with so many players it is so so difficult for a player to properly nail down a test place. In Ireland if a player does badly - we have maybe 1 or 2 options we can toy about with at most. In England you could have 7 or 8 players per position who could do a decent job.

Take your 13 shirt: Manu Tuilagi, Dan Hipkiss, Mike Tindall, Matt Tait, George Lowe, Henry Trinder are names who were all thrown about during the 6 Nations.

After Greenwood retired we saw heaps of 12s come and go. Barkley, Tindall, Abbott, Noon, Flood, Banahan, Flutey, Smith.

Its not easy at all. Its no wonder France chop and change as much. They're in same boat as England.

I like Wood. England's best player in the 6N. Was absolutely shocked he was not a regular for England in the RWC. But as captain, that's a leap. He would have to grow into the role first.

My preference as an old school Rugby guy is for him to captain his club first, before being captain of his country. Of course, Hartley is captain at Saints at the moment. And he is doing quite a fine job at that. In fact, I am still a bit unsure why Old Fat Stevie was preferred to Hartley as England's first choice Hooker.

So, nothing negative about Wood, but nothing negative about Hartley either, temper and all.

Whoever is made captain, teh coaches have to be pretty sure they deserve a place in the team for the whole 6N. It would be good to plan further ahead than that, but with the debacle of captaincy/leadership pretty much since MJ stepped down as captain, not sure we can.

Hartley's performances for England have not been good enough (he seems weak in the scrum and stands up far too easily, his lineout throwing is flaky at best) and if he stays in the team it will only be be because of a lack of credible alternative.

As for Wood - sure why not. There is history of new players making good captains (Warburton, Carling) BUT he then has to play in his correct position which is "6" and not try and fill in on the openside. Of course that means dropping Croft - but if that delivers a stronger team so be it.

red_stag wrote:I think for a country with so many players it is so so difficult for a player to properly nail down a test place. In Ireland if a player does badly - we have maybe 1 or 2 options we can toy about with at most. In England you could have 7 or 8 players per position who could do a decent job.

Take your 13 shirt: Manu Tuilagi, Dan Hipkiss, Mike Tindall, Matt Tait, George Lowe, Henry Trinder are names who were all thrown about during the 6 Nations.

After Greenwood retired we saw heaps of 12s come and go. Barkley, Tindall, Abbott, Noon, Flood, Banahan, Flutey, Smith.

Its not easy at all. Its no wonder France chop and change as much. They're in same boat as England.

Is that in it self not the biggest problem for England. Not being too sure who are your best players and the best back ups?

sometimes I believe it is easier to know there are only 2 or 3 players who stand out, it makes selections, continuity of selection and combinations much easier, than having too many prospects.

The captain has to be absolutely sure of his place in the team, so he needs to be playing well constantly to warrant this and effectively, the best at his position in the country.

Just because someone is a good leader and an ok player does not mean they'll be a worthwhile captain. See the Phil De Glanville debacle.

The key words here are "Could be"

red-stag, biltong,

I agree. In many positions there are a lot of decent options with no-one being outstanding.

England could pick a second and third team that would hold their own against a first XV. Sadly it is a depth of mediocrity

red_stag wrote:I think for a country with so many players it is so so difficult for a player to properly nail down a test place. In Ireland if a player does badly - we have maybe 1 or 2 options we can toy about with at most. In England you could have 7 or 8 players per position who could do a decent job.

Your bang on there Staggy!

It is far easier to be consistant, nail your choice, and then train the hell out of them when you only have 2 or 3 realistic alternatives.

In my own club there are only 1 or 2 candidates for each position so we all train together and even though we are individually average players we operate very well as a team and constantly punch above our weight.

Trying to share the game time & give a fair crack of the whip to 8 or 9 potentials for each position must be a nightmare!

I think you sometimes have to bite the bullet and ride out a period of bad form, resisting calls from media to include the new hotshot. Its a tough line to thread.

I also think its crucial that the coaches decide what system and style we are going to play...and bring the correct players in...not just put the top players in ask them to play roles they are not used to...ie: Playing 6's at openside etc.

To be honest I wasn't impressed by him in the warm ups and the RWC, he didn't get much game time but he didn't shine in the brief appearences he had. He looked well short of his 6N form. Nice to see Mallinder bigging up the Saints boys but I don't think either are really up to the job at the minute, unless Hartley rediscovers his form.

Having said that I'm not sure who really should take the captains job as Easter is the most likely candidate but isn't getting any younger and Croft would be a good shout but seems to stick out when compared to the other backrowers. A tough decision.

I think all this talk of Tom Wood as the next England captain is nonsense. He has no leadership experience, he seems to be a pretty quiet lad and he has definitely not nailed down a starting spot in the side.

Dylan Hartley is probably the main candidate at the moment. Followed by James Haskell, however with Haskell playing oversea's that most likely rules him out. Unless England decide to go with Easter, which would be a massive mistake and step back in the wrong direction in my opinion.

Surprise candidates could be Ben Youngs.

I'd personally get Chris Robshaw straight into the squad and appoint him captain. A very well respected player who hasn't been given enough opportunities in an England shirt. He leads by example for Harlequins with his tackling, ball carrying and link-play.

"I'd personally get Chris Robshaw straight into the squad and appoint him captain."

I never would have guessed that mate!

Tom Wood looks a very good number 6 with a big future ahead of him, perhaps not captain material at the moment, but as someone has mentioned, Warburton probably wouldnt have been thought to be captain material and hes done exceptionally well.

The backrow seems an area thats very contested in the current england squad, so Im not sure if picking a captain there is the best idea......

The backrow seems an area thats very contested in the current england squad, so Im not sure if picking a captain there is the best idea......

Which positions aren't contested? Tighthead, 10, 13, FB?

I'd personally get Chris Robshaw straight into the squad and appoint him captain

Let's see if he can hack the international level first then we'll see if he's learned to stop whining at referees so that they'll actually speak to him during a game.

From which Sam, you can choose your captain. Your captain needs to be assured of his position, look at the debacles with recent captains Borthwick & Moody. Not good for the individuals, team or manager.

I've always thought Cole looked as though he could be a reasonable captain in the interim to finding a more permanent solution.

What factors should be considered in picking a captain.

The way I see it is the captain has to be a near as dead cert to start all the 6N's games. Which currently gives us the choices of:

Cole
Lawes
Palmer
Croft
Youngs
Flood
Tuilagi
Ashton
Foden

You have to assume all of those will be in the first choice XV for the tournament. Any viable captains? Flood, Foden, Youngs, Croft or Palmer

Then you have the possibles, who could by the 6N's be first choice through form and other factors:

Stevens
Hartley
Thompson
Corbs
Wood
Easter
Care
Tindall
Sharples
Armitage

Again do any of those players seem likely to nail their spot if given the chance and would they be a good captain at the same time? Hartley, Thompson, Wood, Tindall or Care.

And then you have the left field options:
PDJ
Marler
Attwood
Deacon
Fourie
Robshaw
Narroway
Simpson
Farrell
Barritt
Brown

The masochistic part of me would love to see Marler as captain.

If I was picking one of the four it would be Flood he seems very vocal on the pitch and is quite cool and calm. Cole is known for getting a bit firey and props don't always make the best captains, for instance I always thought Vickery only got away with it because Corry, Shaw, Kay etc were all discussing the decisions with him and whichever captain we have won't have that kind of experience to turn to.

Ideally you want;

Someone good enough to guarentee their place

Someone who leads by example on the pitch (not necessarily a big hitter)

Someone who won't lose their head in the heat of battle

Someone with a bit of brains and who can talk to and lead the players around him

Too easy for the media to come up with excruciating headlines.

Wood thrusts his way into limelight.

Wood fails to measure up. The shadow of MJ is too intimidating.

Wood taken to cleaners. Left in bloody tatters while team mates played on.

Raging Wood

English Wood too much for opposition

Vickery Vickery Croft.
The Palmer ran up the Wood.
The Wood struck one...
and all the rest sued for damages.

Kiwis claim hand in giving England Wood

Good work sir.

Was England´s Wood held up by the Irish defence?

That would be the choke tackle

Really smashing those cymbals mate.

Thank you, I'm here all week.

It was all in your set up

Ok one more.

Bang on head leaves Wood lethargic and impotent in attack.

Wood goes rampant!
Englands Wood too much for Nigel Owens?