In the wake of his side's latest euro defeat, Northampton boss Jim Mallinder has backed his flanker Tom Wood for the England captaincy. The Guardian's Pau Rees reports.
"Jim Mallinder has in a few weeks gone from being favourite to lead England into the 2015 World Cup to having to salvage Northampton's season from the wreckage of a Heineken Cup campaign that is the exact opposite of a year ago, when the Saints had won three out of three.
"Defeat by mediocre opposition on Saturday left Saints at the bottom of their pool. Three victories in their remaining matches may be enough to secure a place in the Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals, but while just a few months ago Northampton appeared a model of stability compared with England, fault lines are appearing.
"The majority of their England players have yet to rediscover their zest of last season. The flanker Tom Wood is an exception but he followed the previous week's red card at Leicester with a trip to the sin-bin 18 minutes from the end. Wood saw yellow for encroaching as Castres rolled a maul on the Northampton 22."
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