Rob Andrew was the major casualty of a shake-up of English rugby's management structure announced on Thursday.

Andrew's position as director of elite rugby is being abolished in a move that could see former England coach Sir Clive Woodward return in a new role with the governing Rugby Football Union (RFU).

England team manager Martin Johnson, captain of the side that won the 2003 World Cup under Woodward, remains in charge but he is set to have a new boss with the likes of Australia's Eddie Jones and South Africa's Jake White in the running for the new post of performance director.

However, the RFU said it had invited former England five-eighth Andrew to apply for the new post of rugby operations director.

It added that Andrew, previously the coach of Premiership club Newcastle, would stay in his current job for the "six to nine months" it would take to complete the revamp of the RFU.

Under the new set-up, a single rugby department has been created, divided into areas of performance, operations and development.

The changes were made following a review conducted by new RFU chief executive John Steele, who wants to ensure the team and the governing body are both best-placed to take advantage of England staging the 2015 World Cup.

Andrew, 47, joined the RFU in 2006, seeing off competition from Woodward, now the British Olympic Association's elite performance director.

But his time with the RFU has been marked by a largely unsuccessful period for the England team, an appearance in the 2007 World Cup final apart.

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