Rob ANDREW

From the time of his debut in 1985 when he was described by former captain John Scott as "the worst player to ever

represent England" to the end of his career in 1997, Rob Andrew had to endure almost endless criticism about his performances

. Whether it was doubts about his kicking ability or unfavourable comparison with the more naturally gifted Stuart Barnes,

Rob's detractors never seemed to run out of reasons to try and bring him down. However, like all true champion sportsmen,

Andrew reacted in a positive way by working ever harder to improve his weakpoints whilst never fundamentally changing his

game just to satisfy the critics. Though he was not the kind of running fly-half to send purists into raptures of delight, Rob

was the perfect player for the Carling/Cooke era in the late 80s and early 90s, and without him it is unlikely that England

would have achieved the same level of success. Andrew's strengths were pinpoint touch kicking and exceptional defence,

but as his career wore on he succeeded in ironing out technical flaws with the boot and eventually went on to become England's

leading points scorer with 396 from 71 tests. Despite views to the contrary, Rob was also on occasion a match winner in

his own right, as his outstanding performances against South Africa in 1994, and Scotland and Australia a year later readily prove.

Born in North Yorkshire, Rob played in the same Barnard Castle cricket side as future England teammate Rory Underwood

and achieved some notable successes in the first class game with Cambridge University and Nottinghamshire. Whilst at

Cambridge he also earned three rugby blues, and captained his side to victory in the 1985 Varsity Match. The same year

Rob made his first appearance for England against Romania (see picture above). In a record breaking debut, he scored

18 points, including the first two of twenty-one drop goals in his international career. He went on to play in all four games

of the subsequent Five Nations campaign and scored a late penalty to secure a 9-9 draw with France at Twickenham. (Jon Collins)

The 1986 season started well for England with their first win against Wales since 1982, a 21-18 victory at Twickenham,

during which Rob scored 18 points. Unfortunately they then ran into a rampant Scottish side at Murrayfield and lost by a

record 33-6 margin, England's worst performance in the Five Nations since the hammering in Cardiff in 1979. A degree of

respectability was achieved with victory over Ireland but the campaign ended with a 29-10 loss in Paris. The following year

was one of England's worst ever, with just one victory in the Championship and a dismal World Cup in which Rob only

featured in two matches, one as a replacement. For the 1988 season Rob missed out in the first two matches for the

temporarily recalled Les Cusworth, but returned for the victories against Scotland and Ireland. The latter match saw

England recover from losing skipper Nigel Melville to a broken ankle and a 3-0 halftime deficit to register 35 unanswered

points and seal their best win for years. Following another win against Ireland in a one off match to celebrate the Dublin

Millenium, England headed for Australia in buoyant mood. Rob played in both tests, but despite a creditable showing in first

match, the white shirts went down 28-8 in the second, with considerable criticism levelled at skipper John Orwin. When Orwin

was injured for the autumn tests, Andrew was widely tipped to take over the armband himself, but Geoff Cooke eventually settled

on Will Carling, believing that Rob was not in good enough form to cope with the additional burden of captaincy. Carling's first

match in charge yielded spectacular results, a 28-19 victory over Australia at Twickenham which saw two tries by Rory Underwood

and one apiece for Dewi Morris and Simon Halliday. The Carling era had begun, and Rob Andrew would become one of his skipper's

most reliable lieutenants. (Jon Collins)

England entered the 1989 Championship with the sole intention of coming out on top, a realistic ambition given the promise

shown in 1988. Unfortunately, Scotland had other ideas and hustled their way to a 12 all draw at Twickenham, with Rob

and Jon Webb only managing to convert four from eleven spot kicks. England recovered well to defeat France and Ireland,

but then blew their shot at the title with a 12-9 defeat in Cardiff, courtesy of Mike Hall's disputed try. Further disappointment

was to come when Rob was excluded from the British Lions squad to tour Australia, but he earned a late call up when Ireland's

Paul Dean was injured. Andrew made the most of his unexpected opportunity and ousted Craig Chalmers for the fly-half spot

following a heavy defeat in the first test. Rob combined superbly with scrum-half Robert Jones in the 19-12 second test victory

and their tactical kicking helped counteract the threat from Michael Lynagh. Rob also found space to drop a goal, augmenting

crucial tries scored by Gavin Hastings and Jeremy Guscott. Then, in the third test, it was Rob's failed drop goal attempt that led

to David Campese's historic blunder and the subsequent try by Ieuan Evans. The match was won 19-18 and with it the series

, a victory largely engineered by the English pack. England drew strength from the Lions success and ripped through their

opposition in the first three matches of the 1990 Five Nations with a blend of power and creativity. Unfortunately, as in 1989,

the Scots succeeded in spoiling the party and ran out 13-7 winners in the Grand Slam decider at Murrayfield, leaving Rob and

England empty handed once again. However, Rob did have the consolation of helping Wasps to their first victory in the newly

formed Courage League Championship, thus temporarily ending Bath's stranglehold on England's domestic competitions. (Jon Collins)

In 1991 England corrected the mistakes of previous seasons and deservedly collected their first Grand Slam since 1980

by playing powerful, if conservative rugby. In the title decider against France at Twickenham, Phillipe Saint Andre touched

down early on from a move which spanned the length of the field, before Rob's drop goal levelled the game. Rory Underwood's

try then proved decisive as England edged home 21-19. When the final whistle blew, the Twickenham crowd swarmed the pitch

and both Rob and Will Carling were hoisted aloft by the fans. It was a great moment for English rugby and all the pain and

disappointment of previous seasons was washed away. With the Grand Slam pocketed, England were installed amongst the

favourites for the World Cup later in the year, but gave an extremely nervous display against New Zealand in the first match,

losing 18-12. However, the side grew in confidence as the tournament progressed and won another epic encounter with France

in the quarter-finals, during which Rob was flattened by Phillipe Sella. England's superior discipline eventually won the day and

the match ended 21-10. In the semi-final against Scotland, Rob then proved to be the match winner when his late drop goal

made the score 9-6 following a typical drive forward by the scrum. The final was played against Australia at Twickenham,

and the crowd were treated to the sight of England running the ball at their opponents in exuberant style. However,

the much needed breakthrough never came, although Rob came desperately close in the second half only to have his run cut short

by the rookie John Eales. Many saw England's 12-6 defeat as a failure, but when viewed in the context of previous seasons,

the team's performances that year were outstanding. 1992 saw England take out their disappointment on the other Five Nations

sides and a second consecutive Grand Slam was sealed with victory against Wales at Twickenham, starting with a try from

Will Carling after Rob had hoofed a high ball beyond the Welsh goalline. (Jon Collins)