Timothy Andrew Keith Rodber (born 2 July 1969) is an English former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

footballer who played at Number eight, flanker or

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

Background

Rodber excelled at rugby from an early age, representing his school as well as local sides Petersfield R.F.C. and Oxford Old Boys. He attended

Churcher's College Churcher's College is an independent, fee-charging day school for girls and boys, founded in 1722. The Senior School (ages 11–18) is in the market town of Petersfield, Hampshire with the Junior School and Nursery (ages 2 years, 9 months–11) ...

and studied biology at Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) on Army scholarships. Rodber was a captain in the

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and remained so even after rugby turned professional. He resigned in 2001 after retiring from the sport.

Playing career

In 1987 Rodber joined the

academy and went on to become club captain. Whilst at Northampton he started in the victorious

2000 Heineken Cup Final The 2000 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 1999–2000 Heineken Cup, the fifth season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 27 May 2000 at Twickenham Stadium in London. The match was contested by Nort ...

as the Saints defeated Munster.

International

He made his debut for

in the 25–7 victory over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in the 1992

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

. Good performances including helping

to win the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens title. On the 1994 England tour to South Africa Rodber became one of the few Englishmen in the 1990s to be sent off when he was given a red card in a violent tour game against Eastern Province for reacting to a stamp on teammate Jon Callard. However, the same tour saw Rodber play a vital role in one of England's best away performance of the decade during the 32–15 win in Pretoria. "Has one ever seen an England team glisten in a ball-game with such a shimmering and sustained diamond brightness?" commented journalist

Frank Keating Francis Anthony Keating II (initially born as David Rowland Keating) (born February 10, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 25th governor of Oklahoma from 1995 to 2003. , Keating is one of only five governors in Okl ...

. "Rodber and his forwards were quite stupendous from first to last." Rodber said the aftermath of the sending off, including limiting his physicality when playing and possibly preventing his selection as England captain, stayed with him and negatively impacted his play for several years afterwards. Rodber earned selection to the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa. He captained the midweek side against Mpumalanga, but was seen initially as behind the other No. 8s for the Test side. However an injury to

Scott Quinnell Scott Quinnell (born 20 August 1972) is a Welsh former dual-code rugby union and rugby league player who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He was a number 8 for Wales, Llanelli RFC, Llanelli Scarlets, Richmond and the British & Irish Lions in rugb ...

, and then Eric Miller catching flu, led to Rodber starting the First test. Rodber became one of the stand out performers during the tour. He was selected at No.8 for the first two Tests, both of which the Lions won to take the series 2–1. Injury dogged Rodber's career. He was selected for England for the 1999 Rugby World Cup and was a replacement for the losing quarter final. Rodber retired at the end of the 2000/01 season.

Post-retirement

Rodber went into management after retiring and held executive posts including as Managing Director at London-based marketing and communications company Rodber Thorneycroft Ltd, which was acquired by Williams Lea in 2003. He then had successful stints as regional COO and CEO of

Williams Lea Williams Lea Group Limited, branded Williams Lea Tag, is a global company that offers business process outsourcing (BPO) to large companies. Founded in 1820 as a company providing printing services to the financial industry, Williams Lea went thro ...

. He worked for Middleton Advisors until 2013. In July 2013 he was appointed CEO of global workspace providers, Instant.

References

External links

* * *
Sporting Heroes profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodber, Tim 1969 births Living people Army rugby union players Alumni of Oxford Brookes University British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Green Howards officers North of England Rugby Union team Northampton Saints players People educated at Churcher's College England international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players British chief executives People from Petersfield Chief operating officers Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Yorkshire