Tom Wood out of England's final World Cup warm-up

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• Northampton flanker misses Ireland game with calf injury
• 'He's annoyed that he's not playing but it's the right call'

England's back row resources have been stretched before they even depart for the World Cup after Tom Wood was forced to pull out of Saturday's final warm-up international against Ireland.

Wood, the Northampton flanker, has suffered what the England manager Martin Johnson described as a "mild calf strain" and been replaced on the bench by the Stade Français lock Tom Palmer.

England opted for only five specialist loose forwards in their 30-man World Cup squad and are also without the captain Lewis Moody, who is still recovering from a knee injury.

As a result, the starting lock Courtney Lawes will provide the back row cover while England go into the game with two specialist second rows on the bench in Palmer and the veteran Simon Shaw.

"Tom wants to play and he's annoyed that he's not playing but where we are and where we are going, it's the right call for him not to play," said Johnson.

• England rugby union team
• Rugby World Cup 2011
• Rugby union

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26 Aug, 2011

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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/aug/26/tom-wood-england-world-cup
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