Wood hoping for England recall

Wood was left out by the Australian for the 2016 campaign as the Red Rose won the Grand Slam for the first time since 2003.

The flank has been in fine form since then and was recalled for the November internationals.

And the captain led from the front again last weekend for Saints as they downed Castres in the European Champions Cup.

Wood scored Saints' fourth try and took home the man of the match award while his England and Northampton back-row partner Teimana Harrison bagged a double.

And with Chris Robshaw out injured and James Haskell only just returning to full fitness, Wood is hoping he has done enough to be included for the 2017 Six Nations.

"For me and Teimana it is about working well as a partnership, we are trying to play like international players back at our club sides, that is our incentive, to hopefully make it hard for the selectors," Wood told rbs6nations.com. 

"I thought we were really good in the first half and could have had a few more points. We showed great resolve to finish strong.

"We were disappointed when we went to Castres and we were disappointed home and away against Leinster so that was a big incentive today [Saturday] – to do something a bit positive in this competition especially in front of our home fans.

"The pressure was off in terms of league points and qualification; it was just about playing positively.

"Hopefully there is a lot more to come from us, we feel like we are starting to build nicely and gather a bit of momentum.

"It's about how we finish the season, the top four is in our sights and we have to put all our efforts into the league."

rbs6nations.com