Richard Andrew Robinson

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 3 April 1964) is an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

until November 2016. He is the former head coach of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. From September 2019 to December 2022, he was the head coach of the Romanian national team. Robinson played as an openside flanker for

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

. He was head coach of England from October 2004 until November 2006, then coach of

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

and joint coach of Scotland A between October 2007 and June 2009. On 4 June 2009 Robinson was named the new head coach of Scotland. He resigned on 25 November 2012 following a 21–15 defeat at home against Tonga.

Playing career

Born in Taunton, Somerset, Robinson made his England debut against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 12 June 1988, and gained eight caps, playing his last match on 18 November 1995 against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Robinson was quite small for a back row forward, being only 5 ft 9in (1.75 m), and weighing 13 st 12 lb (88 kg). He played 6 non-international games for the

on their 1989 tour of Australia.

Teaching

Whilst playing for Bath, Robinson taught mathematics, physical education and rugby at Writhlington School,

King Edward's School, Bath King Edward's School (KES), in Bath, Somerset, England, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day school providing education for 1,134 pupils aged 3 to 18. The school is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses ...

and later Colston's Collegiate School in Bristol, where he and Alan Martinovic masterminded the school's Daily Mail Cup wins in 1995 and 1996. 'Robbo' then left to play rugby professionally with

Coaching

Robinson later coached Bath before being appointed forwards coach of

and was deputy to

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach (sport), coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 Britis ...

with the World Cup-winning England side in 2003. When Woodward resigned from the role of England coach in September 2004, Robinson was named as acting coach before being confirmed in the position. He was also a coach on the Lions tours to Australia in 2001 and New Zealand in 2005. Robinson won just nine of his twenty two matches in charge of England. In November 2006, it was confirmed that Robinson would remain head coach with the position reviewed after the two tests against

. Defeat in the second test increased demands from supporters that he should be replaced. On 29 November his resignation as head coach was announced, with Robinson blaming his lack of support from the RFU.

International matches as head coach with England

Note: World Rankings Column shows the World Ranking England was placed at on the following Monday after each of their matches

Record by country

In the summer of 2007, the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; ) is the Sport governing body, governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Now marketed as Scottish Rugby, it is the second-oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league sys ...

appointed Robinson the new head coach of

, as well as joint coach of Scotland A with

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

coach Sean Lineen. In his first season as coach, he guided Edinburgh to the highest ever finish by a Scottish side at that time in the Celtic League (joint 3rd), despite numerous international players leaving the previous summer for more lucrative contracts in England and France. The following season (2008–09) Edinburgh leap-frogged

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

and the Ospreys on the final day of the competition to finish runners-up behind

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. Edinburgh also finished highest points scorers. He stepped down in June 2009 to take up the role of head coach of Scotland, replacing Frank Hadden. Although his time as Scotland coach included a 2–0 series win in Argentina and home wins over Australia and South Africa – the latter advancing Scotland to a record sixth place in the world rankings – his stint ended after a string of disappointing results, culminating in defeat by Tonga on 24 November 2012 which was followed a day later by his resignation.

International matches as head coach with Scotland

Record by country

On 18 February 2013 it was announced by Bristol Rugby club that Andy Robinson was joining the club as the new director of rugby and in 2016 Bristol gained promotion to the Aviva Premiership under him.

Personal life

Robinson is a vegetarian. He has four children; Olly Robinson who currently plays for the

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

; Ed Robinson, who is assistant coach at Jersey Reds; Henry; and one daughter, Charlotte Robinson. Robinson attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

between 1982 and 1986. He received a BSc in Physical Education and Sports Science in 1985 and then PGCE the following year.

Career record

Record as England player: Games played 8, Won 4, Lost 3, Drawn 1; 1 try (vs France) Record as England head coach: Games coached 22, Won 9, Lost 13, Drawn: 0 *Biggest Win:

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

70–0 (November 2004) *Biggest Loss (home or away):

34–3 (June 2006) *Biggest Loss (home):

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

20–41 (November 2006) Record as Scotland head coach: Games coached 35, Won 15, Lost 19, Drawn 1

References

External links

Planet-rugby statsSporting Heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Andy 1964 births Living people Alumni of Loughborough University Bath Rugby players England international rugby union players England national rugby union team coaches English rugby union coaches English rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Romania national rugby union team coaches Loughborough Students RUFC players Officers of the Order of the British Empire Rugby union players from Taunton Scotland national rugby union team coaches Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union flankers English expatriate sportspeople in Romania 20th-century English sportsmen Edinburgh Rugby coaches