KEY POINTS:
He was limited as a five-eighths but ground out every ounce of his ability for England in a 71-cap career. He took those same professional qualities to Newcastle and helped create rugby fervour in an area where it had been patchy.
Now Rob Andrew has been asked to
overhaul the game nationwide in his role as elite rugby director. It is a grandiose title and Andrew's brief is enormous.
About the only thing missing from his job description is responsibility for the window-cleaning and car-grooming rosters at Twickers. He is part of the five-man England selection panel and responsible for the direction of the A team, the sevens, age-group sides and the regional academies.
Tack on his remit to manage the video analysis department, oversee the medical and refereeing divisions and you wonder where Andrew started when he was appointed in September.
He had been a spiky columnist for the Daily Mail where he was outspoken and at times very critical of the coaching of both Sir Clive Woodward and Andy Robinson.
When he beat Woodward in the final shootout for the elite job, Andrew ditched his column and reduced the force of his public utterances. He inherited Robinson as England coach and maintained the slate was clean, even though England were on a five-test losing sequence.
Andrew, nicknamed "Squeaky" in his playing days, has turned down most interviews with the excuse that he wanted to get his feet under the table and did not want to detract from Robinson's work with England.
The 43-year-old Andrew has paid a few low-key visits to training but he is a suit, not a tracksuit devotee. He did eventually roll out a few thoughts about tomorrow's cash-cow test against the All Blacks at Twickenham.
"Let's not forget England are the World Cup champions and they are playing a team who are pretenders to that title," he said.
The All Blacks had been the outstanding side in world rugby in the past two years but the expectations were massive and in many ways, greater than those on England.
Great stuff, a partisan rallying cry if ever there was one. Just the words he has to utter in his role, but not the sort of observation he made this year during the Six Nations slide.
"England's humiliation in Paris was an accident waiting to happen and should force the coaching staff to acknowledge that their limited playing style has reached a dead end," he said then.
"With the World Cup looming next year, a major overhaul is needed immediately or there is no chance of winning it again.
"Even major surgery now will be cutting it fine for the World Cup, but it must be done. Andy Robinson has to look at himself - and I'm sure he will be doing that in a very honest way. He sets the game plan and it isn't working.
"England are wasting another season and in grave danger of going into next year's World Cup with a Dad's Army ill-equipped to defend their title."
Ahem.
The consensus is that Andrew has the senior team in his sights as an immediate priority while encouraging the development of youngsters. He was a safer choice for his job than Woodward whose exit was marked by some acrid comments about RFU boss Francis Baron.
Woodward campaigned hard for the job and may have been more innovative, with quality ideas mixed with some rubbish, but he had offended many on his departure. Andrew was a creditable alternative for the RFU.
A smart operator, he filled the political dimensions of the job. He could help heal the feud between clubs and country.
On a rolling contract and an annual salary of about NZ$750,000 Andrew is paid handsomely to find solutions. If things do not pan out, few fingers will be pointed at him.
The fall guy will be Robinson who is very much under scrutiny.
But Andrew's views came through earlier this year.
"Selection issues have been a recurring theme for this England regime and they go back a long way. Significant mistakes have been made and they started in Andy's very first match with Henry Paul's substitution after 23 minutes against Australia - which meant they finished without a specialist goalkicker," Andrew said.
"Unfortunately, it has been an Achilles heel of this particular regime in relation to problems in the centre, at scrum half and back row. Whatever changes are made, the problem reappears somewhere else."
There was some caustic comment for the treatment of young centre Mathew Tait who was dropped after one test against Wales in the last Six Nations. That decision, said Andrew, showed the English staff lacked credibility and did not appreciate that Jamie Noon was the best centre in the country.
Andrew had also been critical of the recall of Lawrence Dallaglio, a move he felt undermined fellow loosie and captain Martin Corry. It is pertinent to note Dallaglio is not in the current squad and Noon is wearing the No 13 jersey.
Industrious, well-respected, careful - they are all terms heard to describe Andrew. He has the ear of the clubs and the RFU and could make a difference in peace talks. Whether he can influence the international results is another matter.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
