Tom Wood knows what’s coming and smiles good-naturedly when asked if he wants to “get the family rugby background stuff out of the way, now or later”.
“Yep, go on, go for it.”
He is the son of former Lions, Ireland, Harlequins, Munster and Garryowen hooker Keith. Which means he is also the grandson of the late Gordon Wood, a prop who lined out for the Lions, Ireland, Munster and Garryowen.
There is more to the rugby lineage as he has togged out for Garryowen alongside older brothers Alexander and Gordon. The trio first played together in an All-Ireland League match last year against Clontarf. Tom came on at outhalf as the Wood siblings went on to form a 10-12-13 midfield axis. They’ve played together a few times since.
Asked what his brothers are like on the pitch, Tom ventured: “They are very different, nearly polar opposites. My oldest brother (Alexander) is quieter than Gordon, who is a bit more demanding, a bit more aggressive.”
Tom and Gordon are in the Munster academy. Alexander, a talented outhalf and place-kicker in his schooldays, has been unfortunate with injury. Mum, Nicola, is a regular presence on the sidelines, while Keith gets to as many games as his work permits.
Tom Wood says his dad offers low-key feedback. He explained: “He likes us to figure it out on our own. He is very good for those insights that you wouldn’t really get off anyone else. I still ask him because he sees the game pretty well.
“He is good for feedback. He does his best to stay chilled. Every now and again when he decides to shout, he is the one voice that you’ll hear.”
The outhalf will be a pivotal figure in every sense in his second season on the Ireland under-20 team, possessing a very good all-round game, embroidered with flair and vision. He has matured as a player but how does that translate from the abstract to the practical?
What does Munster’s crushing Champions Cup exit mean for Ireland?“Well, I think the main difference is [having] more of a leadership role on the team. Last year I probably didn’t drive enough of the standards, not as demanding as I think I could have been. Coming in this year, I need to drive that up another step and make sure I’m demanding standards of players around me.
“And just being more of a leader on and off the pitch. That will stand to me and stand to the team throughout the year. So that’s pretty much the difference I see.”
Ireland Rugby Under 20 Squad Announcement Sponsored by PwC, PwC Ireland, Dublin 20/1/2026
At the Ireland under-20 squad announcement at PwC Ireland in Dublin were (back row, left to right) Diarmaid O’Connell, Ireland under-20 head coach Andrew Browne, IRFU junior vice-president Michael Collopy, IRFU chairperson of commercial and marketing Enda McDonagh, PwC managing partner Billy Murphy and Ireland under-20 captain Sami Bishti. (Front row, from left) Tom Wood and Blake McLean. Photograph: Nick Elliott/Inpho
There have been several changes to the backroom staff under new Irish under-20s head coach Andrew Browne and one of those is the introduction of Kieran Hallett as backs coach, a former outhalf in his playing days. Wood said: “I think he’s brilliant. The way he sees the game, the way he wants to play the game and his philosophy on attack and stuff is fantastic.”
Wood is one of three backs that return from last year’s side. Charlie Molony and Derry Moloney are the others. Their experience will be important, as will a fundamental understanding of what lies ahead in the Six Nations and then in the summer, the World Junior Championship in Georgia. “They’re class players.”
“We’ve some really good players. I think it’s just getting the best out of all of them. Over the next few weeks before we get in, just figure out as backs how we can get more into the game than we did against Italy (in a friendly match in Belfield last Saturday morning, a game Ireland won 29-10). If we can get our fast lads on the ball, we’re very dangerous.
“Kieran [Hallett] has a big thing about playing the picture and not the play. We always have our framework, something to fall back on. Something to get us set, but he’ll never give out to us for taking a picture over a play and seeing space and taking it. That’s the way we want to play now and that’s the way we’re going to play throughout the whole of it.
“Our pack is class. You saw it the other day against Italy. The first penalty of the game we were pretty much in front of the posts and I said, ‘Go on, we’ll throw over the three [points]’ and Sami [Bishti, the captain] stopped me and said, ‘Absolutely not, we’re going to the corner and we’re going to maul them over’. Which they did.
“I think the confidence and trust we have in the players in the pack, we’ll be able to deliver when they want to. When we need to, we’ve some serious, elusive, rapid backs.”
And just the person to run them.