Ireland skipper Keith Wood belives he is losing his fitness battle and has little chance of being fit to face England in the Lloyds TSB Six Nations at Twickenham on February 16.

The Harlequins hooker, whose calf injury has kept him on the sidelines since before Christmas, missed Sunday's 54-10 win over Wales at Lansdowne Road and will miss Quins' friendly with Natal Sharks on Tuesday night, as well as their Zurich Premiership clash at Bath on Saturday.

Wood said: "The England game is going to be a real cracker now, but I've a very slim chance and it doesn't look like I'll win this particular one.

"I'll do whatever I can to get there to have some involvement, but it just hasn't responded, which is very frustrating."

Wood's calf was put in plaster by medical staff this week to immobilise the problem muscle in a bid to speed up the recovery process, but the Irish and Lions star was at least able to enjoy his side's scintillating victory.

"There's no pain when you see a fantastic performance like that," he said. "We played very well and Wales played very poorly."

Wood singled out his replacement at hooker, Frank Sheahan, for special praise and paid tribute to his regular front-row partners Peter Clohessy and John Hayes.

"I have to give a special mention for Frankie because he would have been under a lot of pressure this week. I thought he had a very, very good game.

"He threw well, he snaffled a lot of ball on the ground and I was very, very happy for him."

Of Clohessy, nicknamed the 'Claw' and who won his 50th cap at the weekend, Wood added: "The Claw was just fantastic.

"He did more carries I'd say than he's ever done in his entire life and John Hayes was excellent as well.

"He never carries the ball, ever, but he was sprinting with it.

"His defence was superb, he kept stopping them in their tracks and the pair's involvement in Geordan Murphy's try was magnificent."