Tim RODBER

With a day job as a physical education instructor for the army's Green Howards Regiment, Northampton's Tim Rodber was never going to someone who lacked discipline and motivation in an England shirt. Skilful and extremely athletic, Tim could slot in anywhere in the backrow, playing 32 times on the blindside before showing his versatility at number eight. He even turned up in the second row towards the end of his career in partnership with Martin Johnson, a surprisingly successful innovation on the part of coach Clive Woodward. Rodber's international debut came in England's successful Grand Slam campaign of 1992, during which the white rose buried the ghosts of 1990 by winning with both power and flair. Tim's first match came in a 25-7 win over Scotland, when he was picked ahead of Dean Richards, but he was knocked out during the game and had to be replaced (by Richards).

He also played in a much easier win over Ireland, a 38-9 victory at Twickenham that saw "Boring England" rattle up six tries. After this promising start, Tim did not play any games the 1993 Five Nations campaign, but in the spring of that year he linked up with future internationals Lawrence Dallaglio and Nick Beal to help England to the World Sevens crown at Murrayfield, thus successfully "defending" the title they had won at the same ground twenty years previously! Under the captaincy of former international winger Andrew Harriman and Les Cusworth as coach, England overcame New Zealand, South Africa and Fiji before beating Australia 21-17 in the final, with Tim scoring one of three tries. A memorable year was capped when Tim was part of an England side that secured its first victory over New Zealand since 1983. The backrow of Tim, Ben Clarke and Dean Richards consistently outtackled and outmuscled their eminent opponents for a 15-9 victory, one of England's best performances in years. (Jon Collins). (The picture above shows Tim playing for England B in 1990.)

In 1994 England looked to erase the memories of a poor 1993 when they had finished midtable, but in truth the side was in transition and failed to gel when it really mattered. Ireland put paid to any Grand Slam ambitions by winning 13-12 at Twickenham, but England still had a chance of coming out on top if they could beat Wales by enough points in the last match. Tim gave England great hope when he followed up Rory Underwood's sensational try by touching down from a lineout in the second half, but a score by Nigel Walker ensured that the title went to Wales on points difference. Despite that disappointment, England performed with great credit in South Africa in the summer, winning the first test 33-16. However, the tour was soured slightly when Tim was sent off in a violent game against Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth, the first Englishman to receive his marching orders since Mike Burton had taken an early bath in the "Battle of Ballymore" of 1975.

During the same game Jon Callard had received such a severe raking that he needed 25 stitches to his head and Tim eventually responded by lashing out with a flurry of blows. It was deemed that Rodber's indiscretion had been the result of extreme provocation, and he was allowed to play in the second test, which England lost. Tim was probably at his peak in the 1995 season when he helped England to their third Grand Slam of the 1990s, and also played superbly in the World Cup where his side came fourth. The year of 1996 saw him Tim in and out of the team as Jack Rowell experimented with his line up and he appeared in just two of England's Five Nations matches, his place taken by Bath's Steve Ojomoh. (Jon Collins)

The 1997 season began with great promise as England brushed aside Scotland and Ireland with almost embarrassing ease. What was more, England were playing good rugby with young guns such as Tim Stimpson, Richard Hill and Austin Healey augmenting the old guard of Rodber, Leonard, Johnson and co. However, disaster struck in the next game against France at Twickenham when England somehow managed to blow a 14 point lead to lose 23-20, the first of several Grand Slam failures in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In the spring Tim led England's attempt to defend their World Sevens crown for a second time, this time in Hong Kong, but his side lost out in the quarter-finals of the tournament to Western Samoa. Later in the year Rodber travelled to South Africa with the British Lions, expecting to be second string to the mighty Scott Quinell, but ended up playing in the first two tests at Number Eight when the Welshman was injured against Northern Transvaal early in the tour.

Tim responded superbly to coach Jim Telfer's call for "honesty" amongst his players and during the "Living With Lions" video tour diary his intense focus and determination are clear to see. At one point during a gruelling scrummaging practice, Tim turns to his teammates and calls for an even greater effort, imploring: "Forget about the rest of the session. Forget about what we're doing later. Now is the time. We crawl off this machine, crawl off it." In the end, disciplined forward play indeed proved the key to success, for though the Lions were only able to score three tries in the series compared to South Africa¹s eight, they still won the rubber 2-1. Tim's performance in the second test was perhaps his best for either England or the Lions, as time and again he repeled marauding South African attackers with superhuman tackling. Unfortunately, he was unable to take the field in the final test due to a bout of flu, and was replaced by Rob Wainright. His leadership qualities were noted by the Lions management and during the tour he deputised as captain when Martin Johnson was not playing, alternating the honour with another great motivator, Ireland's Keith Wood. (Jon Collins)

Tim sat out much of the 1997/98 season due to a knee injury and was absent from all of the autumn internationals, thus missing the chance to impress new coach Clive Woodward. However, he returned in the autumn of 1998 and played in both of England's World Cup qualifiers as well as the high profile tests against Australia and South Africa. It was against Australia that he belied his relative lack of height by partnering Martin Johnson in the second row, an experiment that generally worked well. He kept his second row place for the subsequent Five Nations campaign and even found time to score tries against Scotland and Ireland. However, Tim became the centre of controversy in the final match of the Championship against Wales at Wembley. With England leading in injury time, Rodber was harshly adjudged to have fouled Colin Charvis, and it was from the subsequent penalty that Scott Gibbs scored his immortal match winning try to make the game 32-31 to Wales.

That try sent Max Boyce, Tom Jones, The Stereophonics and thousands of travelling Welsh fans into ecstasy, but more importantly it had denied England yet another Grand Slam. It was a crushing blow, but few would have guessed that England and their fans would have to suffer the same last day agony in both of the following seasons. With his career winding down, the World Cup later in the year provided little solace for Tim and he made just two replacement appearances against New Zealand and Fiji respectively. In retirement Tim went into business with his Northampton teammate Harvey Thorneycroft and together they set up their own marketing company. In total, Rodber won 44 caps for England, scoring 5 tries. (Jon Collins)