Returning Wood puts survival before hype

Keith Wood is back in his Harlequins shirt and all is right with the world. That, anyway, is how the majority of Quins supporters – and Ireland's come to that – will regard events at The Stoop this weekend. It is not quite how Wood regards things though.

The fact that their victory over Newcastle and the bonus point they collected for scoring four tries lifted them off the bottom of the Zurich Premiership table means little to Wood. Typically, the Harlequins captain does not let the cheers and tears of joyful celebration cloud his vision.

He emerged unscathed from his first match for 13 weeks, having been laid off with a wicked injury to his left calf, well aware of the task awaiting the Londoners in their run-in and already he is anticipating tougher times ahead. "The 80-odd minutes of action out there does not matter a jot when we step on the field the next time," stated the Ireland international. "We have to go through every bit of that and more if we are to win the next match."

Harlequins are only one off the bottom and their chief executive and head coach, Mark Evans, warned: "If we were to go down there would have to be a radical and a savage restructuring which would affect all elements of the club. It would not be very pleasant for anyone."

But it was pleasant watching Wood galloping around the paddock once more; a happy hooker, chivvying and chasing, harrying the opposition and hurrying his own men, now surging upfield, now urging his players to greater effort.

And there was no denying Wood at having survived the first big test of his fitness. "I was very apprehensive before the match," he confessed. "I was worried about the calf. I didn't know how long it would last. It was Jason Leonard who got me through the match. I was talking to the team, Jason was talking to me. He was just chipping away at me all the time and I needed that. The calf was fine, but I am going to be very stiff and sore tomorrow, so I have installed a forklift truck to get me out of bed."

Wood did everything required of him as a captain and as a player. In defence he put in big hits, at the line-out his aim was unerring. The gas was there when he wanted to put his foot down and, according to Evans, he also made two crucial decisions. The first was in the seventh minute, the second in the 65th. Both were opting to go for an attacking line-out rather than three points from a simple penalty goal. Each resulted in a try, the second clinching that precious fifth point.

"Those were two big calls by Keith," acknowledged Evans, "but that is what captaincy is all about." Wood though was having none of it. "Captaincy is totally over-rated, it is dependent on four or five players leading on the field because there are only certain situations where the captain genuinely comes in.

"That second penalty decision was a group effort. There were three or four of us who looked at the situation, and although ultimately it was my decision, it was arrived at in collaboration with others."

So one job done, now all Ireland awaits a decision on whether Wood can lead his country against Italy at Lansdowne Road at the weekend. "Eddie O'Sullivan, the coach, was here today, I had a good chat with him after the match. He was pleased enough with what he saw. But we will have to see exactly how everything shapes up over the next few days, before I can take a view on whether I can do anything for Ireland. Playing one game for Quins does not mean I can play an international the following week." Don't bet on it.

Harlequins: Tries Olver, White-Cooper, Bell, Sheriff; Conversions Burke 2; Penalties Burke 3. Newcastle: Try Stephenson; Conversion Wilkinson; Penalties Wilkinson 2; Drop goals Wilkinson 2.

Harlequins: B Gollings; R Jewell, W Greenwood, C Bell, M Moore; P Burke, N Duncombe (M Powell, 48); J Leonard, K Wood (capt), A Olver, A Codling (G Morgan, 75), S White-Cooper, R Winters, T Diprose, T Tamarua (L Sheriff, 11).

Newcastle: D Richardson; G MacLure (V Tuigamala, 64), M Stephenson, T May, L Botham; J Wilkinson (capt), H Charlton; M Ward, S Brotherstone (M Thomson, 72), I Peel, H Vyvyan, S Grimes, E Taione, R Arnold (P Lam, 72), A Mower (R Devonshire, 64).

Referee: C White (Cheltenham).