Tom Wood: England back row expects 'shock to the system' against former club Northampton

Tom Wood scored 22 tries for Northampton during his 12 years with the club

Former Northampton and England back row Tom Wood is braced for a "shock to the system" when he lines up against Saints for Barbarians on Saturday.

Wood, 36, will run out on to the Franklin's Gardens pitch for the final time after retiring in the summer.

The game was arranged to give Saints some competitive practice after scheduled opponents Worcester Warriors went into administration.

"I don't know if I'm in shape for rugby," he told BBC Radio Northampton.

"I'm climbing trees, doing all sorts of projects, lugging logs around. I'm busy, I'm hands on, I'm working hard but I'm not hitting scrums or mauls very often and I'm not touching a rugby ball very often."

He continued: "I've just started doing a little bit of running in preparation for this. Going for a 5k is one thing, but changing direction, getting up and down off the ground and sprinting is very different.

"I am five months out of doing that in a professional environment, so it might be a bit of a shock to the system but I can muster it for one last occasion."

Wood joined Saints from Worcester in 2010 and played 240 games for the club.

He was in the side that reached the 2011 European Champions Cup final and helped them win the Premiership and European Challenge Cup in 2014 - and Premiership Rugby Cup five years later.

His illustrious career also saw him win 50 England caps and two Six Nations titles.

Wood's retirement was marked by a guard of honour before Northampton's final home game of last season against Newcastle Falcons, but he was not involved in the game because of injury.

"It was a complete surprise and really touching for me and my family to walk out and take the applause of the crowd - but I didn't have my boots on and that was disappointing.

"I wasn't far off, probably a couple of weeks away from being out there on the pitch. It was touch and go but it was the right decision. I'm not moaning. I shouldn't have been picked. I wasn't ready.

"It's great to now get an opportunity, albeit in a different coloured shirt, to run out here and finish on a high in front of the fans.

"And with the pitch looking as immaculate as it does, I'll hopefully get a shot into Andy Waller and Mikey Haywood while I'm there."

Sharing memories with Luther

The Baa-Baas squad also includes Wood's former Northampton team-mate Luther Burrell, Danny Cipriani and nine Wasps players who have been starved of action since their club also went into administration.

Former Wasps boss Lee Blackett will be part of the coaching team for the game.

"They [Baa-Baas] put a feeler out to me when they were in the early stages of planning the game," said Wood.

"I get to work with [coach] John Mulvihill again who I worked with out in Spain and get to meet and play with some players that I haven't worked with before so I'm looking forward to it - and to catching up with Luther Burrell.

"We shared the field on some of our best days, for England and for Northampton, around 2014, 2015 when everything was going so well for us. It'll be great to be back on the pitch with him."

Tom Wood (second from left) and Phil Dowson (right) were team-mates when Saints won the 2014 Premiership

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson described the Baa-Baas as an "incredible bastion of rugby values".

He told BBC Radio Northampton: "I'd have loved for Tom to go out in a blaze of glory, with us winning something, and with a Saints shirt on.

"That perfect happy ending doesn't often happen, if ever, but this is a pretty good opportunity for him to get stuck into some of the lads he played with, which I'm sure he'll be keen to do, and to accept the adulation of the crowd which is well deserved for what he did for the club for so long."