Andrew: I won't resign

The former England fly-half has come in for criticism after a disappointing World Cup that saw the side knocked out at the quarter-final stage by France. The campaign in New Zealand was also marred by off-field problems.

Team manager Martin Johnson has since opted to stand down, but Andrew remains adamant that he will not be quitting his role at the RFU.

Instead he is focusing his attention on finding Johnson's replacement after what he describes as a "pretty tough 12 months" at Twickenham.

Moving on

"I'm not going to resign," he told Sky Sports News HD. "I run a big department and I have to find a new England head coach with the RFU.

"We have to move on into the Six Nations. It's been a hugely disappointing World Cup coming on the back of a Six Nations title and an improvement in fortunes over the past 12 months.

"Things have clearly gone wrong and we lost in a World Cup quarter-final, as we did in 1999 and as we did in 1987.

"It's been a pretty tough 12 months here. There's been a lot of stuff going on that shouldn't have been going on, and that has to stop from an RFU point of view."
Rob Andrew Quotes of the week

"It will be up to other people to decide what happens over this. I know where we are as a department. It's my job to move this department forward.

"We know where the next group of players are coming from and we know where the next Six Nations is going be. We've got to find a new head coach because Martin has chosen to step down."

He added: "Of course I've considered my position. There's been soul-searching the whole time, it's been a pretty tough 12 months for everybody here, there's a lot of stuff going on that shouldn't have been."

The RFU has been further rocked this week by the leaking of confidential reviews undertaken by the RFU, the Rugby Players' Association and the Aviva Premiership clubs following the World Cup.

The reports, which were published across eight pages in The Times newspaper on Wednesday, suggested a divided squad lacking in discipline, with quotes from unnamed players criticising the management team.

Despicable

"That is quite despicable," Andrew said when asked about the leaked reports.

"Whoever has leaked that... I hope they are found and I hope the RFU take the action that should be taken, because the players have been betrayed, the coaches have been betrayed, the review process through the Professional Game Board has been betrayed, and that is unacceptable.

"You have to look at this and take those comments in context. Not all the players think that.

"When you do anonymous information like this, you have a huge responsibility to deal with that correctly, because you are putting people's reputations and lives at risk.

"There are players that have those views. They gave those views on the understanding that it would be strictly anonymous.

"You are always going to get extreme views around coaches and players.

"That's not to say we don't take notice of them, because we do. But that should not, though, be played out in the public domain."