Background
Wood was born in Killaloe, County Clare, and educated at Street Munchin"s College, Limerick. His father, Gordon Wood, played prop 29 times for Ireland.
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Wood was born in Killaloe, County Clare, and educated at Street Munchin"s College, Limerick. His father, Gordon Wood, played prop 29 times for Ireland.
He was nicknamed "The Raging Potato" because of his bald head He was also known as "Uncle Fester" due to his resemblance to a character in The Addams Family. He started his career with Garryowen who he helped to All Ireland titles in 1992 and 1994 before moving to Harlequins.
He returned to play with Munster Rugby in the 1999–2000 season and played in the European Rugby Cup final that Munster Rugby lost to Northampton Saints 9-8 in Twickenham Stadium before returning to Harlequins.
Wood made his international debut in 1994 against Australia. He was capped 58 times for Ireland and five times for the Lions.
Never the most accurate player in the set piece his real strength was in leadership and open play where he dominated the world XV"s hooker spot. He played a part in the Lions" 2-1 series victory over the Springboks in 1997.
Wood captained Ireland.
He was followed as Ireland captain by Brian O"Driscoll. Wood retired from playing after the 2003 Rugby World Cup. In 2005 the Munster Rugby player was inducted into the Rugby Hall of fame.
He currently holds a world record of 15 full international test tries scored by a hooker, previously held by Sean Fitzpatrick (12) of the New Zealand All Blacks.
He scored 4 tries in one game in the 1999 World Cup, in the pool stage against the United States of America. Ireland were later eliminated from the tournament when they lost to Argentina in the quarter-final play-official Wood now works for the British Broadcasting Corporation and The Daily Telegraph as a freelance journalist.
In 2014, Wood was inducted into the Institutional Review Board Hall of Fame.
Wood used to play hurling, and was a member of the Clare Gaelic Athletic Association side that played in the inaugural Nenagh Company-op hurling tournament in 1988.