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December 5, 2009

Posted on 12/05/2009

Andrew misses target by putting boot in laws

Writing in The Scotsman, Allan Massey says Rob Andrew should look closer to home when criticising today's rugby standards.

"I always liked Rob Andrew as a player, despite that infamous moment in the 1994 Calcutta Cup match when his errant hand secured England a match-winning penalty. He was a very good fly-half playing to England's strength , which was ten-man rugby, not hugely exciting but mighty effective.

"He was usually preferred to his then rival, the free-running, adventurous Stuart Barnes. If the England sides he played for sometimes deserved the moan "boring England", they were successful in his best years and the Twickenham crowd certainly didn't seem to mind that matches were as often won by Rob's boot as by scintillating tries from Rory Underwood or Jerry Guscott.

"But now he seems to have lost his touch. Here he is, England's director of rugby or whatever, telling us that the game has become boring, and that the IRB must amend the laws in favour of the side in possession or the crowds will drift away. This is his Gerald Ratner moment: our product is "crap" – so don't buy it."

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