Tim Rodber
Birth nameTimothy Andrew Keith Rodber
Date of birth (1969-07-02) 2 July 1969
Place of birthRichmond, Yorkshire, England
Height1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight111 kg (17 st 7 lb; 245 lb)
SchoolChurcher's College
UniversityOxford Brookes University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker / Number eight / Lock
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Oxford Old Boys
Petersfield RFC
Northampton		 ()
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1988-2001 Northampton 235 ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)

1992-1999
1997		 England B
England
British and Irish Lions
44
2
(25)
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
1993 England 1993 7s RWC

Timothy Andrew Keith Rodber (born 2 July 1969) is an English former rugby union footballer who played at Number eight, flanker or lock for Northampton Saints, England, and the British and Irish Lions.

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 and studied biology at Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) on Army scholarships.[1]

Rodber was a captain in the Green Howards infantry regiment of the British Army and remained so even after rugby turned professional.[2] He resigned in 2001 after retiring from the sport.[3]

Playing career

In 1987 Rodber joined the Northampton Saints academy and went on to become club captain.

Whilst at Northampton he started in the victorious 2000 Heineken Cup Final as the Saints defeated Munster.[4]

International

He made his debut for England in the 25–7 victory over Scotland in the 1992 Five Nations Championship.

Good performances including helping England to win the 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens title.[5]

On the 1994 England tour of South Africa Rodber played a major role in one of England's best away performances of the decade during the 32–15 First Test win at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium 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. "Rodber and his forwards were quite stupendous from first to last." However in the subsequent tour game against Eastern Province Rodber became one of the few Englishmen in the 1990s to be sent off when he was given a red card for reacting to violence including a stamp on teammate Jon Callard.[3] This incident may have possibly preventing his later selection as England captain. Rodber said the aftermath of the sending off limited his physicality when playing, thus negatively impacted his play, until 1997.[6]

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.[7] However an injury to Scott Quinnell, and then Eric Miller catching flu,[8] 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.[9] 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. He worked for Middleton Advisors until 2013. In July 2013 he was appointed CEO of global workspace providers, Instant.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Rugby Union: Double life of an officer and a hard man". The Independent. 19 February 1994. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Rugby Union: You and whose army? Rodber's". The Independent. 13 December 1998. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Rodber: I wasn't up to captaincy". Evening Standard. 4 May 2001.
  4. ↑ "Saints secure historic victory". BBC. 27 May 2000. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "Sport Editors: Magnificent Sevens". BBC. 24 May 2007.
  6. ↑ "I WAS STUPID; Shame of my live with me; Bok sending off will for rest of my life. - Free Online Library".
  7. ↑ Dallaglio, Lawrence. "British & Irish Lions can take inspiration from the class of 1997 in South Africa".
  8. ↑ "'I got the letter under my door to say I was starting but then I was told I wasn't in the 23'". 14 June 2017.
  9. ↑ "BBC News | England | Springbok marksman kicks England out".
  10. ↑ "Instant Group: Our Team". Instant Group. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
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