English Rugby
Shake-up won't harm England - Andrew
ESPNscrum Staff
January 13, 2011
RFU elite rugby director Rob Andrew, England v Samoa, Twickenham, London, England, November 20, 2010
Rob Andrew: Steady as she goes for Martin Johnson despite RFU overhaul © Getty Images
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Outgoing director of elite rugby Rob Andrew insists the managerial upheaval at RFU will not derail England's 2011 World Cup campaign.

Andrew's current role is to be scrapped and he is still deciding whether to apply for the newly-created position of rugby operations director.

Under the new structure being implemented by RFU chief executive John Steele, responsibility for the England team would shift from Andrew to the new performance director. In the meantime, Andrew insisted he is happy to stay involved at Twickenham and he took part in the selection meetings ahead of Wednesday's Six Nations squad announcement.

"I have a job to do now and I am doing that job. We will go where we go in the future. The important thing for now is that everybody at the RFU is 100% behind (England team manager) Martin (Johnson)," Andrew said. "We are planning meticulously around the start of the Six Nations. We know what the plan is through the summer, through the training camp and to the World Cup in September. That is all we are focusing on."

Johnson is contracted until the World Cup and Andrew confirmed his position as England team manager will be unaffected by the reshuffle.

"The strategy for Martin is that he is taking this team to the World Cup. He will take the coaches he wants to take and he is building a squad," said Andrew. "Everybody can see the squad is developing nicely."

Andrew's biggest challenge as elite rugby director was to broker a complex agreement with the Premiership clubs over England access and the development of young English players.

Both systems have proved to be a success for the RFU, with 14 of the current 33-man elite squad aged 25 or under while 67.1% of Premiership players qualify for England. The new position Andrew has been invited to apply for covers the continued management of the system plus tournaments, referees and coaching development.

"We have some very good players coming through the system," Andrew told the BBC. "Joe Simpson has pushed into the senior squad. Joe Marler and James Gaskell, who were the outstanding players in the under-20s for the last two years, have come into the Saxons. The pipeline is the strongest it has ever been."

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