Tom Wood eager to be back in England white against Wales

England flanker Tom Wood is eager to be back in England's traditional white strip again for Saturday's massive World Cup clash against Wales at Twickenham.

Having lost the toss, England had to play at Twickenham in an unfamiliar red kit in their opening Pool A victory against Fiji last Friday, and had to use the away team's dressing room.

They will be back in their traditional white jersey and in the home dressing room for the Wales match, and for the clash against Australia a week later, 

We're England, we play in white and that's something which resonates with us and means a lot to us.

"We definitely like playing in white - that's something we've said from day one," said Wood.

"We don't want any gimmicky change kits. We don't want excuses to play in other colours.

"We're England, we play in white and that's something which resonates with us and means a lot to us.

"But at the end of the day, if it's got the rose on the badge, we're happy - as long as we don't get confused and pass it to the wrong guy!"

However, the 28-year-old Northampton Saints player said which dressing room the team are in is less of an irritation.

"That's all a bit of a sideshow. It doesn't actually affect our performance," he said.

The 38-cap back-rower is more concerned about the expected impact of his opposite number, Dan Lydiate.

"He's a big old lump," admitted Wood. "He provides some ballast in the close exchanges. He's got a particular style of tackling technique that is very difficult to navigate.

"He chops you down at about knee-height and it's very difficult to get any leg-drive through a tackle like that. He gets horizontal early and gets hold of you."

Wood was nevertheless quietly confident that England can control their crunch game against Wales.

"Everyone's got their strengths and weaknesses and we like to think that we can play a complete game, a balanced game that can stress the Welsh, and hopefully we can get on top of them and get a good result for us," he said.