bloodandmud.com talks to Keith Wood

 

When I started this blog some 18 months ago, if someone had said to me that my intermittent web-based ranting would one day lead to me interviewing a bona fide legend of our game I would have laughed so hard you would think I was watching Iain Balshaw field a high ball.  However, that day has come as this week I had a chinwag with Keith Wood.  KEITH WOOD!

Read on to hear the big fella's views on the Lions, the 6 Nations, Munster, the possible insanity of Nick Mallett and Marc Lievremont, and retirement - among other things

I was at Wembley when Ireland beat Wales in 1999.  Your try featured probably the best sidestep from a front row in history, is that your best try when you look back?

You know, it really was incredible, and if I hadn't done the most extravagant thing possible then Gibbsy would have killed me - as he was wont to do.  I tell you, you could find skills you didn't know you had when you saw that battleaxe running at you, but it probably was my best try actually and it was nice to score it at Wembley.

Are you still friends with Gibbsy and other boys from 1997?

Very much so, yes, a good few of them I would say. A lot of these friendships are obviously built on when you can meet up really, but I see Scott Gibbs all the time, also Ieuan Evans, Tom Smith, Jason Leonard, Dallaglio and Jonno.  It's a special thing we have, given that we won and all shared in that victory.

Given the old rugby adage of "what goes on tour stays on tour", how did you feel about them making Living With Lions?

It was a strange thing, in that the cameras and everything could have made us play up a bit, but we didn't need that, it was such a great tour with great boys and it showed us all having good fun.  But, what it also showed - and this is the best thing for me - was how intense it was inside the changing room.  There are fun parts like the court and all that, but the changing room is a part of rugby that people never ever see, that pure intensity.  Even right down to Tom Smith just sat in the corner.

And Neil Jenkins throwing up..Oh all the time!  Just mention a rugby game to him and he'll blow some.  Terrible reflux, I think.

Bringing things back to the present, as a Munster man yourself how do you rate their Heineken Cup chances this year?

I'd have to say very good.  They got out of their group very well and they now have a home quarter and home semi, and of course they've been there before.

Do you get back to Killaloe (Keith's home town in County Clare) much?

I live in Killaloe now.  I moved back for a little while as I wanted to give my boys a taste of home and I've been back there for a year; it's a great place and it's home.

I've been near there myself, in Kilrush, and I saw some dolphins.

(Animated, perhaps due to the mention of dolphins)  You did well there!  I love that part of the world, it really is proper old Ireland.

Back to rugby; who is your pick for the hooker's jersey for the Lions?

I really don't know; I won't be able to make a determination until after the first match of the Six Nations and go from there, rather than say that it's going to be Flannery or something.  Also, you never really know until the guys get out there and there is always a surprise pick in the first Test team, so you never know.

When you look at the hookers playing international rugby these days, Lee Mears for example, do you ever think you retired to early?

(diplomatically stifling a giggle)  I don't think I retired too early, no.

You were pretty young at 31 though, had you just had enough?

To be honest, my body was falling apart - I was 31 but my shoulders were in their early 50s.

Good job you sidestepped Gibbsy in 1999 then.

Exactly! That was another injury that was winking at me...

What do you think about Italy's decision to pick Mauro Bergamasco at scrum-half for the England game this weekend?

Oh, I am just so upset about that.  It's just so hard.  He's a really fine player but I just cannot see him as scrum-half, it just isn't right or fair.  Another shocker is Elissalde not being picked in the French squad.

Would it be fair to say that Marc Lievremont is slightly insane?  At least when it comes to selection...

Well, I'll allow you to say that not me, but I will say that I don't like the constant chopping and changing as I think it does everyone involved a disservice.

The latter end of your career overlapped what has become known as Ireland's golden generation of players.  Why do you think they didn't reach the heights they perhaps should have?

Firstly, I think that generation is still there and that they still have a chance to reach those heights.  But looking back, at times injury got in the way and at other times it just didn't happen.  I think that if we'd just won one championship, say in 2003 or 2004, we could have won it three of four times on the trot.  You have to remember that we have only won one Grand Slam (in 1948), it's not like we're tripping over them, so we don't have that history of winning developed yet. Once we get that going, then I think we could sustain it.

Speaking of winning, who is your pick for this year's RBS 6 Nations?

(hedging his bets) Ireland, France or Wales.

What do you think of Paddy Wallace and Brian O'Driscoll as the midfield for Ireland vs France?

I think it's a big call.  I don't think we'll get the best out of Paddy Wallace and that's because I don't see his position as a centre, but obviously I hope he does well.

When you think back to the days when you were playing, is there anyone that you see as a lost talent, someone who you think could have achieved more?

Without doubt the biggest loss for me was Simon Geoghegan.  He had that terrible toe injury and had loads of operations, then retired just as the game went professional because he couldn't do it any more.  He had something special.

Any regrets from your time in the game?  Anything you'd wish you'd done more of?

I wish I'd won more.  But, you know, I had a great time every time a strapped my boots on.  I retired early, as you mentioned, but I was happy with the decision, I didn't have to look back on three or four years of going downhill and not playing as well as I could and should.  I enjoyed it right to the end.

Would you have liked to have played under the ELVs?

People complain about the ELVs, but the rules changed all the time when I was playing as well, you are better off not complaining and just getting on with it.  The game has become a lot more physical, however, and for a guy to survive now they need to have started playing when I finished.  For anyone to try to play with a catalogue of injuries under his belt now would not be a good idea under these new rules - it's just become incredibly physical and aggressive.

But you were always more renowned for your play in the loose, so do you not think you could have excelled under these rules had you been born a bit later?

Maybe so, but when I was playing it was pretty loose and it opened up even more as it went on so I think I had a good chance to show what I could do.

Fair enough, final question Keith, what was the best front row you ever played in?

1997 Lions, no doubt.  Not just the Test guys (Tom Smith and Paul Wallace) but Jason Leonard as well in some of the other matches.  I can't believe Tom is still turning out for Northampton, perhaps he has Lions hopes this year as well, you never know with him.

Keith Wood was talking to us after refereeing the first ever Bushmills Table Rugby Six Nations.  The winners of the prestigious tournament were Italy. If you fancy having a pop at Table Rugby yourself, and as Keith says, "I urge all sports fanatics to get involved, it provides great banter", you can find the rules on the Bushmills.com site. 

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