Wood beats Robshaw to land the England captaincy for autumn Tests

Tom Wood will be named England captain ahead of Chris Robshaw this autumn, sources inside the camp have confirmed.

With Robshaw given the summer off to rest, Northampton flanker Wood skippered England on their tour to Argentina, where he convinced head coach Stuart Lancaster and his staff that he is the man to lead the side. However, no announcement will be made until closer to the opening game against Australia on November 2.

Top man: Tom Wood will be handed England captaincy

It will be rough on Robshaw, who led England to a memorable win over world champions New Zealand last November and then to four consecutive victories in the RBS Six Nations before the wheels came off spectacularly against Wales in Cardiff.

That defeat cost both Robshaw and Wood any hope of securing a Lions tour spot and when the pair went head-to-head on Friday night in horrendous conditions at the Twickenham Stoop, it was Wood who came out on top as Northampton beat Harlequins 13-6 in the Aviva Premiership.

Now there is speculation over whether Robshaw will even start for England in seven weeks' time. With Tom Croft ruled out for the season with a knee injury and with the England management now determined to use a ballcarrying No 8 - a place to be fought out between Ben Morgan and Billy Vunipola - the battle for the final place in England's back row appears to be between Robshaw and Gloucester openside flanker Mat Kvesic.

Kvesic was hugely impressive in Argentina and only an unexpected drop in form, or injury, will stop him pushing Robshaw onto the bench for the Wallabies opener.

'We have a great group of players and the summer tour to Argentina saw the competition in our squad increase,' said England assistant coach Graham Rowntree yesterday.

'Chris and Tom are fit and playing well. And there's new blood in there as well with Matt Kvesic, so the competition in the back row is great.'

Much will depend on form over the next few weeks in domestic and European rugby but while Robshaw can still play his way into the team, the captaincy already appears to be lost.



