Irish hooker Keith Wood will miss Ireland's opening Lloyds TSB Six Nations match with Wales on February 3 if he fails to recover from a torn calf before this weekend. The Irish captain sustained the injury while playing for his club Harlequins in the Powergen Cup on December 15 and has been sidelined ever since. Wood insisted today that if he is to have any chance of participating in the Ireland-Wales match at Lansdowne Road, he must play in Harlequins' Zurich Premiership clash with Northampton this Saturday.
"There is no point going into an international not having played for six or seven weeks," he explained. "I would be no value to anyone and I'd rather miss it than play badly." Wood has begun light training but is still uncertain whether or not his injury will heal in time.
"I've started running which is the main thing, normally you can take things from there. The injury proved a lot worse than I initially thought. I tore the calf and there was a lot of blood. It's not been resolved yet and nothing is set in stone. I've spoken to Eddie O'Sullivan but I don't know if I'll be fit," he added
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
